Girls Und Panzer at war
by dafyddkear
Summary: How would the Second World War go if a group of tankers who drive tanks for fun ended up on the Western Front in 1940.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer - I own nothing but the plot. But even that was influence by SCE2AUX's story Shinjuwan.**

**I am not Japanese so I apologise for what is most likely very bad use of honourifics and titles.**

"What are your orders commander?" came the composed voice of Maho Nishizumi, despite being under heavy fire from the enemy, she remained calm.

For Miho Nishizumi, commander of the combined Ooarai/Kuromorimine team, things weren't going well. The battle had started off well, with her capturing the high ground and moving her biggest guns, the 88mm's, to the top of the hill to provide fire support. She had then used her smaller, faster tanks to counter the St Gloriana Crusaders and Saunders Stuarts that were racing around, trying to hamper the forward progress of her medium tanks, lead by her Panzer IV.H. It had been going well, with many of the light tanks falling to their guns, but then something unexpected had happened. One of the King Tigers on the hill had been taken out by a long range shot, followed by the other Tiger. Miho had been trying to find out what could have happened, when the tree line ahead of her seemed to start moving. It was only when she saw the flash of a gun that she realised it was a tank. Her friend and loader Yukari Akiyama had quickly recognised the tank and started fangirling out over seeing an A39 Tortoise in use.

From there things had quickly gone down hill, leading to her current situation. She had been forced to retreat to the top of the hill and hunker down. All she had left were the Panzer IV.H, the Hetzer of turtle team, the Stug III of Hippo team,the Porsche Tiger of Leopon Team, the Tiger 1 of her sister, and the King Tiger commanded by Erika Itsumi.

Facing off against her was the Churchill of Darjeeling, the last Crusader of Rosehip, the M4A2 Sherman of Kay from Saunders, the M4A2 (76) W of Alisa, and the Sherman Firefly of Naomi.

However, despite however the advantage in both firepower and armour, Miho couldn't risk moving, because the 32pdr of the Tortoise was still operational, despite it's tracks having been blown of by a few well placed 88mm rounds.

#

It had only been three months since the battle against the All-Star University Team which saved their school, but a lot had changed. After the battle, the Ooarai team had thought that they finally had a chance to relax. But the world seems to like chaos.

Only a week after the match reports had come in that there was a massive build up of military forces in China, and they seemed to be mobilising for war.

In response the Senshado Foundation had ordered that a supply of live ammunition be provided to all Senshado tanks amid fears of a Chinese invasion. As such, each tanks was carrying 20 armour piercing rounds and 15 high explosive armour piercing. It was unlikely that they would be able to fight off modern main battle tanks by themselves, but maybe they could delay them. A special system had also been installed on each tank that disabled the Senshado restrictions, and the white-flag scoring system.

Amid growing tensions, the Nishizumi sisters had decided that in an attempt to help people relax, an exhibtion match would be organised. It was decided that the teams of Ooarai and Kuromorimine would face off against Saunders and St Gloriana.

#

So this is how she found herself, under heavy fire and unable to move location.

During her inflection she heard her gunner and friend, Hana Isuzu, chuckle quietly, "Once again, St Gloriana has the upper hand over us. They are the only team we haven't beaten once."

Miho smiled at that realisation, what did it say about Darjeeling that she could consistently beat Miho Nishizumi. Miho understood though that before now Darjeeling had been commanding on of the teams with the least firepower, with their biggest gun being the 75mm of the Churchill.

Before she could think any further another 32pdr shell landed nearby, rocking the tank violently and throwing up a cloud of dirt.

"Miho, orders," repeated Maho.

"Oh, yeah, ummm," Miho couldn't think of any way out, any movement would put them firmly in the sights of the 32pdr of the Tortoise, or the 17pdr of the Firefly.

Before she had a chance to respond however, there was a great clap of thunder, and wind began swirl around them.

"What's going on?" asked Saori Takebe, voice wavering.

Miho looked out of the tank, where before there had been bright, sunny blue skies, now there was dark, grey clouds, with heavy gale force winds. There were slight flashes of green within the clouds, before a swirling green vortex appeared, growing larger and larger.

As the vortex engulfed the hill, all the equipment shorted out, and they were plunged into darkness.

#

#

#

"Mi..."

"...umi...no"

"...porin"

Sowly the world came back to her, the voices of her friends breaking through the fog in her mind. Sitting up she saw the relieved looks on the faces of her friends.

"Miho-san, are you ok?" asked Hana

"Yes, I'm fine. What happened?"

"Some sort of storm, other than that we don't know."

"What about the other tanks?"

"I haven't been able to raise them on the radio, and we haven't had time to look outside as we've been focused on you," answered Saori.

"I can see the St Gloriana tanks, Darjeeling is standing in her cupola staring, she looks shocked," came the tired voice of Mako Reizei.

Miho decided to do the same, as she stood in her cupola, she too looked shocked. She had no idea where they were.

The hill they had been stationed on was gone, instead they found themselves on a large open plain, broken only by a few hedgerows. What caught their attention though, was the large hill slightly to the north, with a town sitting on it. What was interesting was what they could see of the architecture, it definitely wasn't Japanese.

Looking away from the town, Miho took stock of who was with her. It seemed that every tank that had been on the hill was now on this large field. The only tank not present was the A39 Tortoise. Much like her the commanders of the other tanks were standing in shock at their status. Miho looked over at Maho who to anyone else was composed as normal, but Miho could tell that she was uncomfortable. The sisters looked at each other, and despite any differences, they held a conversation with their eyes and came to a quick conclusion. They needed to have a meeting with everyone.

Looking across at Darjeeling and Kay, Miho waved her hand in a 'come here' gesture. Trusting their friend both commanders began to move all their tanks towards them.

Pulling alongside the Ooari/Kuromorimine tanks, Kay and Darjeeling disembarked from their tanks, Kay jumping down, Darjeeling alighting gracefully. Miho and Maho did the same, and the four commanders gathered in the centre of the tanks.

"Miho-san, Maho-san," Darjeeling said politely, "How do you feel?"

"We're fine Darjeeling-san," answered Miho, "How about you?"

"We're fine as well, but we are unsure as to our location."

Kay spoke up, her normally boisterous voice quite subdued, "That storm looked familiar to me, it reminds me of an American film I once watched, what was it called again? The Final Countdown, that's it."

"What does a film have to do with our current situation?" asked Maho bluntly.

"If you would give me a minute to explain, you'd find out."

"Kay, Onee-chan, please don't argue. We don't have the time for it."

"Sorry,"

"Sorry,"

"Now, Kay, what were you saying?"

"The storm reminded me of the one from the film, it was about an American carrier that encounters a storm and ends up on December 6th 1941, I don't need to tell you anything about that date. But basically, they decide to stop the attack, but end up back in their time before they can."

"And you think, that that is what happened to us? Something out of a film?"

"It would explain our change in location, and it would also explain that plane heading towards us."

At her words they looked up, flying towards them was, to them, a vintage 1940s propeller aircraft. It was obvious to all the girls what plane it was, given their interest in tanks and history.

The drone of the JU-87 Stuka grew louder as it approached, still in shock the girls just stared. But they were quick to react when it changed direction and dove towards them. A sound they all knew, but never expected to hear from the sky, a sound that terrified a generation, a sound that hailed death became audible to them. The siren of a diving Stuka scared them all into action, "Take cover," screamed Maho, her composure broken.

The girls outside their tanks began to scream, and ran to take cover, diving to the floor wherever they could. The siren grew louder, they could hear the engine droning as the Stuka closed on them. Then the siren faded away, only to be replaced by a piercing whistle. None of the girls moved, they knew what that sound meant.

The ground shook violently and dirt filled the air, the 1000lb bomb exploding close to them. Everyone's ears were ringing in the aftermath, and each of their heart's was racing. Any doubts they had had about their location were gone.

Standing up, the girls looked at where the bomb had landed. Thankfully it hadn't hit anyone, but it had landed near one of the tanks. Luckily it had landed near the Churhcill, which was one the most heavily armoured there so it wasn't damaged.

The commanders looked at each other, they were unprepared for this sort of situation, what did they do? How did they get home? What if they couldn't get home?

Maho spoke first, "The first thing we need to do is find out where, and when we are. It's obvious we are in Europe, given what just happened, but which front, and what year. To that end, I think the best thing to do would be too head to that town."

Before she could get any further though they were interrupted by loads of high school girls climbing out of their tanks and clamouring for answers. Miho grew uncomfortable at being surrounded, the noise was deafening.

"Quiet!" shouted Saori, "Let the commanders answer."

"Thank you Saori-san," said Miho, relieved at the quiet.

#

It took a while, but finally they explained to their crews what had happened to them, none doubted it, the evidence being overwhelming. As a result within the hour all tanks were ready, the crews as calm as they could be under the circumstances. Given the danger they were in, the commanders had agreed to break out the live ammunition in case they were attacked.

The tanks formed up, the Churchill in the lead and the three Tiger tanks at the other points of the compass, one to the left, one to the right, and one at the rear. They put the less well armoured tanks in the centre to protect them, this was the Panzer IV.H, the Stug III, the Hetzer, the Crusader, and the three Shermans. With the formation ready and their guns loaded, the tanks set off for the town.

As they slowly got closer to the town, they began to see signs of war, craters and shell holes filled the land, with wrecks of trucks at the sides of the roads, discarded possessions lay in the ditches. Soon they came across the wreck of a tank, a tank everyone recognised, especially the St Gloiriana students.

"A Mathilda ," said Yukari in awe, "I think I know roughly when and where we are Nishizumi-dono."

Miho nodded, "So do I Yukari-san, so do I. Saori, are the radios working yet?"

"Yes they are Miporin, I can only raise the other tanks though,"

"That's all I need, contact Rosehip-san and tell her to move up next to Darheeling-san. We need the British tanks at the front, hopefully it'll prevent anyone firing on us."

"What if we're in German territory?" asked Mako

"Then hopefully the presence of German tanks will persuade them to hold fire."

She didn't say that maybe the British would fire when they saw the tanks, but she didn't need to as the thought was on everyone's minds.

#

Closing on the town, the girls grew tense, and despite the fact that they were expecting it, they all screamed when a shell landed near them. Immediately, each tank stopped and lowered their guns to aim at the floor, showing that they meant no harm.

A voice called out from the cluster of trees ahead, "Identify yourself," the voice said in English, "You have both British and Kraut tanks, so we don't know whether to fire or not, now Identify yourself."

"What did he say Miporin," asked Saori, as she was unable to speak English.

"He asked us to identify ourselves," replied Miho.

"How do we answer?" asked Yukari

"They'll never believe the truth," said Hana

"I think having a tank crewed by high school girls should tell them that something is wrong," said Mako in an obvious tone.

"Hush Mako," Saori, "We're scared."

The cupola hatch of Darjeeling's Churchill opened and she raised herself up, hands in the air as if a prisoner, "We mean you no harm," she said in perfect English, "Our story is quite unbelievable but if you let us we'll tell you. Just please, can you tell us where we are?"

There was silence for a few minutes, they could hear a faint murmuring, but soon the voice replied, "You're in France miss, the town of Cassel, about 15 miles south of Dunkirk."

"Did he say Dunkirk?" Yukari asked fearfully.

There was no reply as Darjeeling asked another question, "And what is the date good sir?"

"The date, why do you want to know that?"

"Please sir, it's important."

"May 26th 1940. Why is that important?"

In the Stug III of Hippo team, the history club were putting things together quite quickly, "May 26th, the town of Cassel, this must be one of the holding actions the British Expeditionary Force organised to slow the German advance. And if this is Cassel then this must be Somer Force under the command of Brigadier Nigel Somerset," said Erwin in realisation.

"How do you know this stuff?" asked Caesar

"The same way you know Italian and Latin. I made sure to research everyone of Rommel's campaigns," Erwin turned to the radio, "Darjeeling-dono, ask to speak to Brigadier Somerset, tell him that we have important information regarding the German attack."

Recognising the voice, and knowing of her knowledge of WW2, Darjeeling took the advice, "Please, let us speak with Brigadier Somerset, we have information regarding the German advance."

"Sure you do, and I'm the king of England," the voice was understandably skeptical, despite the fact that they obviously knew who was in charge despite not knowing where they were five minutes previous.

"Is there any way we can prove it?" asked Darjeeling.

Any further conversation was interrupted by the roar of an engine, a bren gun carrier roared around from behind the trees and pulled to a stop in front of the tanks. In the carrier stood a tall, roughly 50 year old man with a pipe hanging from his mouth. His uniform was crisp, and the rank denoted was that of Brigadier.

"What's going on here then?" he asked, his voice quiet yet commanding

A British soldier emerged from the trees, rifle held ready, "I don't know sir, these tanks just appeared coming down the road, we fired a warning shot and they stopped."

"Why did you fire a warning shot? They could have been Germans and you could have given your position away."

"I thought that too sir, but one of the tanks is definitely British, but I don't recognise the insignia."

"Did it not occur to you that it could be a captured tank?"

The soldier looked abashed, "No sir,"

The Brigadier dismissed the soldier and turned to Darjeeling, "Right then miss, what's going on here?"

#

#

#

The explanation of who they were and where they had come from shocked the Brigadier, he desperately wanted to dismiss their claims but they kept providing evidence, the tanks spoke for themselves as although he recognised a few of them, others were of designs he had never seen before.

Then there was the mobile telephone they showed him, which also served as a camera. There was also the knowledge one of the girls had about the war and what happened so far.

In the end he had no choice but to accept their claims and listen to them. Leaving orders for the men to shoot first and ask questions later, he led the tanks up into the main square where he had set up headquarters.

He asked the commanders of each school, along with the history buff, to follow him. Gathering in the command room he finally asked some important questions about the future of the war, "So, when can we expect the German attack?"

The girl Erwin, who seemed to idolise the man responsible for the collapse of the allied front, spoke up, "Tomorrow. It will start with an armoured attack, which you will repel, but then over the next two days the Germans will subject the town to a major aerial bombardment, before finally you are forced to withdraw and retreat to Dunkirk on the 30th. Not many of you will make it, and even fewer will be evacuated home. You yourself will spend the rest of the war in a POW camp."

The stoic girl in grey, who was commanding what looked like a German tank sighed, "That's a nice, subtle way of putting it."

Erwin blushed in embarrassment, "Sorry."

Brigadier Somerset sighed, he had already know that he wasn't going to make it home. But he didn't want to sacrifice his men in vain.

"Is it worth it?" he asked quietly, "Is the sacrifice of my men worth it?"

"The sacrifice of lives is not to be taken lightly," said Miho Nishizumi, speaking up hesitantly, "But in this case it is. The delay you cause here, along with other divisions like yours, allows almost 340,000 British and French soldiers to be evacuated. This gives Britain a fighting chance to defeat the Nazis."

"Understood," the Brigadier sighs, "Alright then, the knowledge you girls have, along with your tanks, is more important than anything at the moment. Are you willing to help us?"

This was a question that each of the girls had been pondering since they had arrived, to help the British would be to help those fighting against Japan, their own country. To many this would be seen as treason, and this was a thought that many of them had tried to forget about. But the Brigadier's question brought it to the front of their minds. Would they commit treason against their country. In the end though, it boiled down to two factors, did they want to live under Tojo's regime, and did they want the Nazis to win. Despite any differences the girls had they all agreed that regardless of committing treason, none of them could honestly help the Nazis.

As one, Maho, Miho, Kay, Darjeeling, and Erwin turned to Brigadier and said one word that would change the future, "Yes."


	2. Chapter 2

The rumble of tank engines echoed around the square, the chatter of soldiers nearly drowned out. The most asked questions were aimed at the unknow tanks and their drivers, each British soldier wondered why the Brigadier was allowing these tanks to leave, and why he allowed high school girls to command them.

"Do you understand your orders Major Howard?" asked the Brigadier

"Yes sir, ensure that these girls get to Dunkirk, and make sure they are evacuated to England, with their tanks."

"That is the most important thing Major, with their tanks. These tanks cannot be left behind for the Germans. Take this letter and give it to whomever is in charge."

"Yes sir."

"Well don't just stand there, get going."

The Major saluted before turning to the tank called a Churchill, it was the tank with the most space and the one he would be riding in to Dunkirk.

Once settled in the tank, he nodded at the commander, Darjeeling if he remembered her name corretly, who nodded in return and gave the order to advance. The tank lurched forward sending him flying back. The girls around him chuckled slightly and he blushed in embarrassment. The tank rumbled slowly through the town, taking the tight turns slowly, but always moving. Before long they had left the town and were heading down the road to the north. The tank had a top speed of 25mph, he remembered the girls saying that historically the tank was slower, but the engine was improved to make it legal for the sport they called Senshado, or Tankery in English.

Trundling down the French roads, Major John Howard, of the Kings Shropshire Light Infantry, began to relax, the likelihood of encountering a German force was low, but he noticed that the crew of the tank were still on guard. He voiced his observation to the loader, who had been introduced to him as Orange Pekoe.

"You can never truly relax in a war zone Major. You never know when an ambush will occur."

"But we are behind allied lines, the only danger is an attack from above."

"Continuous effort is the key to unlocking our potential Major," said Darjeeling, taking a sip from her tea, "Tea major?"

"Yes please, Earl Grey, black."

"Of course, Orange Pekoe, please provide the Major with tea."

Turning he watched as Orange Pekoe reach towards a device attached to the engine. It's function became obvious as boiling water poured from a tap into a waiting cup. He was then handed a boiling hot cup of Earl Grey tea, "Is this a newfangled future thing?"

"In a way Major, I believe the bivvie was first applied to the post war Centurion tank due to a large number of losses during tea breaks for British tankers."

"Well, if we can get this introduced to earlier models, maybe we can prevent these losses," said the Major, taking a sip of his tea and smiling at the taste.

#

The atmosphere in the Panzer IV.H was much more tense than the Churchill, Miho was still apprehensive about this course of action, but she understood that there were few options. Yukari however was geeking out at the chance to see British tanks in development. Hana was as composed as usual, Mako was still half asleep, and Saori was chattering away about finding a British boyfriend.

Despite the quiet and relaxed nature of the journey, Miho remained on guard. She knew enough about the war to know that them being attacked was possible, as such she remained out of her cupola, watching her surroundings closely.

It was this ... that allowed Miho to notice that something was wrong, and immediately react, "Enemy at 2 o'clock, in the trees."

Trusting her commander, Hana span the turret, took careful aim, seeing the discolour in the trees, and fired. The live ap round shot through the air, into the trees, and hit the target right at the join between turret and tank. The 75mm round easily pierced the weak armour, and detonated inside. The explosion detonated the ammo in the tank, sending the turret high in the air.

Hana came to her senses a few seconds later, realising she had just killed someone, she fell back into her chair, chest heaving. She didn't have much time to think about it though as suddenly the tree line came alive. Shells shot out from the trees, landing all around the convoy. A few scored hits on the larger tanks, but bounced off the superior armour.

Any reservations the senshado teams had had about fighting, disappeared under the hail of shells flying towards them. Using their instincts, each tank turned to face the threat, aimed carefully, and fired. The sound of three 88m, several 75mm, and a 6pdr echoed across the field. Each shell flew straight into the trees. It wasn't easy to see how many hit, but it was obvious that some did, as there were several explosions of varying sizes.

Another volley of shells cam flying towards them, some hitting, but thankfully bouncing. Rosehip pulled her tank behind one of the Tigers, despite wanting to use her speed she knew that now wasn't the time.

This time, the response from the girls was even more devastating, as they had made sure to aim at the muzzle flashes from the previous bombardment. The tanks fired again, and the tree line exploded, every shell had hit its target. The girls remained alert, ready for another volley but none came.

On Darjeeling's order the tanks returned to the road and carried on towards Dunkirk. But any positivity was long gone, as the girls come to the realisation that they had killed people. Yes they were under fire, but it was still a new sensation for them. The girls would need reassuring that they did the right thing.

#

Arriving at Dunkirk was an awe inspiring sensation, the girls had all heard about the miraculous evacuation that saved the British army and ensured Britain's survival, but too actually be there was another thing entirely. Thankfully it had only taken a few hours to reach Dunkirk, and after the one situation, there were no other attacks.

Driving through the town, the convoy drew strange looks, partly because of the strange tank designs, and obvious German tanks, and partly because of the high school girls hanging out of several hatches.

The girls watched the British soldiers as they passed, it was obvious that this was an army on the run, from the dirt caked uniforms, to the weariness on their faces. But the girls kept going, luckily they had arrived at the beginning of the evacuation so equipment was still being loaded onto some ships.

The convoy pulled up to the pier, and was greeted by Commander Bolton, a middle aged British commander, "What's all this then?"

Major Howard disembarked from the Churchill and came to attention before the Commander, "Major Arthur Howard, 2nd Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment, reporting under orders from Brigadier Somerset."

The commander raised an eyebrow, "And the tanks behind you?"

"Individuals bearing special intelligence sir. Brigadier Somerset has requested that both they and their equipment be sent to Britain as soon as possible."

The other eyebrow went up, "What makes them so important?"

The Major produced the letter given to him by the Brigadier, "I believe it's all in this letter sir."

Opening the letter, the Commander's face went through an array of emotions, mostly centred around shock and surprise, now and then he glanced up at the girls before returning to the letter. When finished he handed it back, "I can't say I fully believe it, but technically the Brigadier outranks me. The next ship capable of taking you will be in a few hours. You'll have to wait until then."

"Understood Commander, where should we wait?"

"There's a large park half a mile down the road, pull in down there. I'll send a runner when the ship is here."

The Major saluted and clambered back aboard. The engine roared and the tank began to clatter down the road towards the park.

It didn't take long for the tanks to arrive and pull up around each other. With the crews finally somewhere relatively safe, they all disembarked their tanks. Some of the girls broke down, the stress getting to them finally, others sought comfort in their friends whilst others tried to remain strong.

Leopon team took the opportunity to look over each of the tanks and make sure they were still working, it was a way of keeping their minds of other things.

Hippo team sat atop their Stug discussing the pros and cons of their location, and the best way to change things.

Turtle team didn't have much of a chance to do anything, as they were trying to comfort Momo Kawashima who had broken down in tears once again.

The girls from Kuromorimine were trying their best to stay calm, but they felt uncomfortable at the looks their tanks were getting from passing British soldiers, given their obvious German nature.

The girls from Saunders were laughing and joking, and playing games. Alisa was being distracted from their situation by Naomi, lest she break down in tears.

The girls from St Gloriana were probably the most comfortable, each held a cup of tea and were watching the British soldiers with interest.

#

Time passed slowly, from where they were the girls could watch as ships came and went, each one carrying as many men as possible. Air attacks by the Luftwaffe made them panic the first few times, but after a couple of hours they grew used to it. It amazed them how normal things became in war, and how quickly that happened.

Currently, the commander of each tank was gathered with the Major around the Churchill, trying to decide what to do when they reached Britain. They all agreed to help the allies, but they were unsure how to. They were certain that they needed to warn them about the Italian declararion of war, and the inevitable Battle of Britain, but they couldn't predict anything beyond that given how much may have changed by then.

The group was clamouring, each speaking over the other, only Miho remained quiet, thinking. Finally she spoke, "It all boils down to one thing, Do we want to play an active role in the war? Are we prepared to fight, and quite possibly die, to defeat the Nazis."

The question silenced the group, making them think.

"I'm prepared to," said Maho, drawing looks from her friends, "Millions died in this war. If we can save even a single one of them, we should."

"And imagine the bragging rights we'd have, saying we played a pivotal role in ending the war," Kay shouted boisterously.

Shaking her head at Kay's enthusiasm, Darjeeling spoke next, "I've spent my entire school life immersed in British culture, I'd rather not see it crushed by Hitler."

Similar statements of agreement were made by each commander and, when asked, the crews all agreed. In the end it was decided that, if allowed, they would join the war against the Nazis, wherever necessary. With their course of action decided, the girls dispersed to await the runner saying the ship had arrived.

#

"All right, bring her forward, put her near the tower. The next one along side, then behind, then alongside, and carry on until they're all on." The captain of the transport ship was eager to get all the tanks on and get underway before the Luftwaffe returned. Luckily there was a lot of smoke cover after a German bomb had hit the oil depot nearby.

One by one the senshado tanks boarded the transport and pulled into position. The crews made sure to remain in their tanks until each one was on.

The captain had been hesitant to allow them on when asked by Commander Bolton, but once he'd seen the tanks her changed his mind as he realised the impact they could have on the British war effort. With little fuss he got the deck of his ship cleared and room made for them.

As the last tank boarded the ship the captain smiled, happy that he could finally leave. The quicker these girls got to Blighty, the better.

Returning to the bridge, he addressed the helmsman, "Take us out, ahead one third."


	3. Chapter 3

Despite being relatively safe, none of the girls felt like talking, the state of the British soldiers on the ship was horrible. Many of them were caked in dirt and sand, others were simply strewn about the deck, asleep or too tired to move. They had been preparing themselves for a barrage of questions, but it soon became clear that the soldiers just didn't care at the moment. The only people aboard who looked like they wanted to ask questions were the sailors, but they had been ordered not to by the captain. That didn't stop one or two trying to get close, but they were dissuaded by a sharp look from either Maho or Erika.

The crossing was slow, watching the results of war was a big wake up call for the girls. They had all heard about the horrors the Nazis committed, but to actually see the results of Nazi attacks, even in 1940, before they had even got up to speed, was horrifying. If they hadn't already decided to help defeat them, this would have changed their minds. Any chance to stop the horrors that were to come, had to be taken. But they knew, that for the Nazis to be defeated, some horrors had to occur.

An hour into the voyage, the quiet got too much for Maho, she had been the main advocate for joining the war, and as such wanted to begin planning. Together, her and Erika gathered all the main girls. Soon, Maho, Erika, Kay, Darjeeling, Orange Pekoe, Assam, Naomi, Alisa, Miho, Erwin and Anzu Kadotani, Ooari's student council president, were gathered on the engine block of the Porsche Tiger. Tea had been provided by Darjeeling, and snacks had been produced from somewhere by the Saunders girls.

"We've all agreed to help the British, despite the fact we'll be fighting against our own country, but we haven't had time to discuss how. We can only do so much personally, and none of us have even been to war before, we were all ready for it, given the actions by the Chinese, but none of us were really ready for it. And certainly none of us were ready to find ourselves in the largest war in human history. But we are here now, and we'll have to do the best we can. To that end, I will now hand over to our resident WW2 expert, Erwin," Maho began the discussion on a strong note, addressing everyone's fears, and soothing them. It was at times like these Miho saw the big sister that had slowly disappeared under their mothers harsh treatment.

Stammering slightly, Erwin began, "R-right, we all know that the evacuation at Dunkirk signaled the end of the land war on the Western Front until D-day in 1944, from here to then most of the war was fought in the air and on the sea. On the 10th of June this year, Italy will enter the war on Hitler's side, upon doing so they will launch an invasion of France from the south, at the same time they will signal start the North Africa campaign as the British begin an invasion of Italian Libya. They will capture the Italian Fort Capuzzo, they will then be beaten back by an Italian counter attack, things will go back and forth for a few months before in February of 1941, Erwin Rommel will be sent to North Africa, where he will earn fame and the name 'The Desert Fox'."

Erwin took a breath to allow them to absorb that information.

Taking the opportunity, Miho asked a question, "What do you want to do about that Erwin?" There was an emphasis on the name Erwin.

Erwin blushed, "Okay, yes, I would like to face off against him, I mean, who wouldn't. He's one of the greatest tank generals in history."

The girls chuckled, of course she would want to face off against the man she idolised.

Clearing her throat, Erwin continued with her history/future lesson, "However, that's too far ahead for the moment. The most important thing is the imminent Battle of Britain. The Luftwaffe's bombing campaign against the RAF was very effective, it's accepted that if it had carried on the way it did then the RAF would have been wiped out. We need to prevent that, because it will lead to an invasion of Britain. However the easiest way to prevent that would be to let history take its course and for Hitler to begin the Blitz, the bombing campaign against British cities. But can we be sure that will still happen with our presence, and do we really want to let innocent people die in that bombing campaign?"

Darjeeling was the one to speak up, "As much as I hate to say it, do we want to risk changing anything and causing more trouble? And then there's the fact that the Blitz showed the world that Britain would never give up and helped increase support for them in the United States."

Silence reigned, did they try to prevent the Blitz, and possibly cause a German invasion, or did they let thousands die just to keep the timeline intact?

Ever the politician, Anzu spoke up, "Let's wait until we get to Britain, hopefully we'll meet the Prime Minister, and then we can discuss it with him."

Darjeeling's eyes lit up, "Do you think we'll meet him?" Her voice was squeaky, drawing incredulous looks from the others.

Orange Pekoe laughed heartily, "In the same way Erwin admires Rommel, Darjeeling admires Churchill. I guarantee, if Churchill were a brand of tea, her name would be Churchill."

"Orange Pekoe!" cried Darjeeling

Some of the tension that had built up drained away.

However, before the conversation could continue, a shout went up, "Land, I see land."

Soldiers who had until recently been too tired to move, were suddenly springing up and running to the front of the ship. A loud cheer went up as far in the distance, towering cliffs began to appear. None of the girls had ever been to Britain, but they had all heard of the white cliffs of Dover. Soon they would arrive, and from there they could begin to change the war.

#

Major Howard returned to them as soon as the ship docked in Dover, "We'll be the first of the boat," he informed the girls, "There's a train due to leave for London soon, a few flatbed trucks have been added to it for your tanks. If you'll follow me I'll lead you to the train." With that said, the major disembarked and walked over to a waiting car. The rumble of tank engines soon grew louder, and the clatter of tanks could be heard as the Senshado tanks began to move forward.

To reach the train station, the tanks had to drive straight through Dover, this drew many strange looks from the locals. It took quite a while to actually reach the station because so many people came to watch the convoy.

When they did arrive at the train station they were directed to the rear of the train where the flatbeds were located, to transport them to London. Working quickly and efficiently, all eleven tanks were soon strapped in and the girls had been directed to their carriage, adjacent to the flatbeds.

The major would be staying with them until they reached London. Once in London, they would be met at the station, by whom and to where they would be taken, the major didn't know.

Boarding the carriage, the major watched as the girls relaxed into their seats, he had noticed that ever since the firefight on the way to Dunkirk, many of them had been subdued. He understood this as that was their first time in a fight where the opponent was trying to kill them. He had spoken at lengtht to Darjeeling about the future, and he understood that to them, tank combat was a sport. It would take a while for them to get out of that mindset, but he could see them all adapting relatively quickly.

In the carriage, he saw the commanders of each team congregate together, just as they had on the boat. He wondered what they were talking about, he debated joining them,but remembered he still had to inform the driver that they were ready to leave.

#

Assembled around the table, the commanders continued their talk from before. Except this time they were joined by Satoko Nakajima, commander of Leopon team, who had been asked to join them by Maho. Maho had had an idea during the drive to the train, and wanted to put it forward to the rest of the girls.

"Let's continue from where we left off, not the Blitz, but what do we do during the war itself?" asked Darjeeling,

"About that," answered Maho, "I've had an idea. From my knowledge, one of the weakest points about the British army during the early war, and even into the later years, was their tanks. Take the Matilda for example, it's heavily armoured yes, but the 2pdr gun isn't powerful enough to combat the German tanks. Even the Cromwell, despite it's speed and increased firepower, wasn't enough to fight the German Tigers or Panthers."

The girls from St Gloriana looked slightly offended at the bashing of their tanks, but they couldn't bring themselves to deny Maho's words.

Naomi spoke up at that, "That's why the Sherman Firefly was needed, it had the firepower to defeat those tanks, but even it had flaws. The insanely bright flash being one of them." Almost by instinct, Naomi blinked, as if to let her eyes adjust.

Kay laughed at that, "I remember the first time you fired the gun, you were convinced you had gone blind."

Naomi looked down, muttering under her breath.

As the laughs died down, the conversation returned to Maho's idea.

Miho spoke up, "What's your idea then, Onee-Chan? I presume it has something to do with Leopon team."

Maho smiled, "Yes, it does Miho. If we want to end the war quicker, and with less dead, then the first thing we should do is allow the allies to have better tanks, the easiest way to do that would be to let them have a look at ours."

She couldn't get any further as there was a clamour of disagreement, none of them wanted to sacrifice their tanks.

Maho tried to placate them, "I wasn't suggesting we give them our tanks to take apart, just that we allow them to examine them. The automobile club of Ooari will be on hand to explain things to them, and to make sure the tanks still work at the end of the day."

Now that Maho had been able to explain her idea, the rest of the girls were nodding in agreement.

Miho realised that if they were going to discuss improving tanks the someone needed to be present, someone with an almost instinctive knowledge of every tank ever made. Standing, she walked over to the table where the rest of Anglerfish team had been sitting with Rosehip. It seemed that Rosehip was regaling them with stories about her fastest attacks with her crusader.

"Yukari-san, I need your help please."

"Of course Nishizumi-dono," Yukari followed her back to the table, "Nishizumi-dono, what do you need my help with?"

The wrong Nishizumi answered, "You are Ooari's expert on tanks, correct?"

"Y-yes," Yukari stammered, honoured to be speaking to the famous Maho Nishizumi.

Miho giggled at Yukari's reaction to her sister's question, "We need your help in discussing how to improve British tanks."

"Improve British tanks? Why? And how?"

"The why is the easiest to answer, and we'll make an announcement in a second, just to make sure everyone agrees and understands. And the how is up to you and the automobile club, and probably Erwin as well," said Miho.

Understanding what her sister was getting at, Maho stood up and walked to the end of the carriage, quickly followed by her sister, Kay and Darjeeling, "Attention," she shouted, drawing everyone's attention, and ending all conversations, "Thank you, now, we all know that inexplicable things happen. This is just one of them. Now some of you may have noticed that us four commanders have been spending a lot of time talking."

There were nods of agreement around the carriage.

Kay carried on, "What we've been doing is discussing where we should go from here. None of us expected to find ourselves in the middle of the Second World War, but here we are. We've come to the conclusion that the best thing for us to do would be to help the Allies," holding up a hand to stall complaints, Kay continued, "Now I know some of you won't like the fact that we'll be helping fight our own people, but do we really want to live in a world run, for all intents and purposes, by the Nazis."

Any complaints the young girls from Japan had faded away after that realisation.

Darjeeling spoke next, "To that end, we have decided that, if we're all in agreement, we should take an active approach to ending this war. Even if it means fighting and killing. I know none of us have any real combat experience, but we all know roughly what it's like to be under fire."

The realisation that they may have to fight and kill caused many of the girls to have second thoughts about joining. None of them wanted to kill, they drove tanks for fun.

Erika spoke up from where she was sitting, "But haven't we already fought in a real fire fight? I know none of us want to think about it, but the fact remains that many of us have already killed. We don't know how many Germans ambushed us on the road to Dunkirk, all we know is that by the time we'd finished, none of them were firing at us."

Instead of reassuring people, Erika's words made many of them feel worse, especially the gunners.

Miho, seeing how they all felt, spoke up, "I know none of us want to kill, or be responsible for anyone's death, but at the moment we have no other choice. If by our actions, we can end this war quickly, and save people, then we owe it to them to try. We can all imagine what a world would be like under the Nazis, our own country wouldn't remain untouched, despite the alliance we would have with them. I stopped doing Senshado because five people almost died under my command. But I bounced back with help from new friends," Here she smiled at Anglerfish team, "I don't want to kill anyone, but if it helps end the war, and save lives, I will be prepared too, as long as my friends remain by my side."

"Of course we will Miho-san," Anglerfish team said as one.

From behind them, a voice spoke in heavily accented Japanese, "Well said young lady, well said."

Even speaking in a language that wasn't his native tongue, the voice was still immediately identifiable to all of the girls. Turning towards the doorway, the girls could only stare in shock as Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain, possibly the greatest Prime Minister in British history, and the man responsible for Britain's survival, walked into the carriage.


	4. Chapter 4

The carriage was silent, none of them had expected to meet Winston Churchill, they had expected to be met by a general of some sort who subsequently told them to 'Bugger off'. The silence continued, Winston just smiling. Darjeeling was the one to break the silence, with a very unladylike squeal she ran to Churchill and began chattering about how it was such an honour to meet him.

"Darjeeling-dono," said Orange Pekoe, aghast at her friends actions, "Compose yourself."

Winston Churchill chuckled, "It's alright young lady, her reaction lends credence to your story. Some of the things she's saying are quite informative."

The words of Winston Churchill evidently got through to Darjeeling who quickly stopped, blushed, and stammered an apology.

Churchill chuckled, "Nonsense young lady, if what I've been told about you and your time is true, then I can hardly blame your reaction. Now, as much as I wish to speak to you now, your presence has been requested at the palace, word has reached his majesty and he wishes to know all about you and your tanks, which I have to say are impressive machines."

All the girls blushed, to have the machines they took pride in be complimented by possibly the greatest politician of the 20th century is no small feat. Then Churchill's words caught up with them.

"Excuse me Mr Prime Minister, did you say the palace? As in Buckingham Palace?" asked Assam, Darjeeling too dumbstruck to ask, and Orange Pekoe trying to calm her down.

"Indeed I did miss ...?"

"Assam, Mr Prime Minister, St Gloriana intelligence chief."

"Of course, beautiful name, a wonderful tea as well,"

"it's a school tradition, elite members of the school are given soul names, always a type of tea,"

"An interesting tradition, and given your fascination with tea, you would be the school which imitates British aristocratic culture?"

"Of course Mr Prime Minister, the unofficial motto of St Gloriana is 'be elegant at all times',"

"An impressive aim. Now, who else is there?"

"Kay, commander of Saunders," Kay exclaimed boisterously

There were chuckles around the carriage at Kay's enthusiasm, "And you would be the school imitating American culture I would take it?" asked Churchill, still chuckling.

Kay nodded vigorously, "Yes sir, right you are sir. However did you guess?"

"My mother was American, and I spent some time there in my younger years. I recognise the enthusiasm you have."

Kay hid her face in her hands, cheeks evidently red.

Churchill turned his attention to Maho, who quickly and immediately came to attention, "Nishizumi Maho, commander of Kuromorimine Senshado team."

"At ease commander, you're not on parade here,"

"Sorry sir, instinct sir,"

"And judging by your reaction I am going to assume you are the school using the German tanks."

"Yes sir, and might I say sir, it is an honour to meet you."

"It shouldn't be, I haven't done anything to deserve that honour."

"But of course you have, if my history is correct, two weeks ago you made a speech in which you said, 'I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat'. That speech is famous in our time, and is a symbol of British resistance."

"Indeed I did, but that is just one speech, it doesn't mean anything. I still have to convince the country to continue the war, and I am worried given the collapse in France."

"You will Mr Prime Minister, in spite of arguments from Chamberlain and Lord Halifax you will win the vote in a few days,"

"I wish I had your confidence. Now, who are you miss?"

"Miho, Miho Nishizumi, Mr Prime Minister," said Miho, looking anywhere but at Churchill.

"Any relation?" he asked gesturing to the sisters.

"My younger sister, Mr Prime Minister,"

"I can see the resemblance, and you must be the commander of the Ooari team, with no specific country focus."

"Yes Mr Prime Minister."

He smiled, "I would ask the names of the rest of you, but I believe his majesty is awaiting us, and my aide is still outside."

Anzu spoke up, "How are we getting to the palace?" Her informality drew aghast looks from those around her, Darjeeling particularly looked scandalised."

"Well, the palace is just down the road, and the roads have been cleared to allow us through. At the kings insistence you will be to drive your tanks to the palace, where they will be parked in the courtyard." With that, Churchill left the carriage. The girls following.

Outside the carriage, they were met by Major Howard who saluted the Prime Minister, "Major Howard, you will come with us, by Royal command you are to be the military attache to these girls."

The major was visibly shocked, but soon recovered, "Yes sir, understood sir."

Turning, the girls looked at the flatbeds holding their tanks, ramps had been placed to allow the tanks to be driven off and onto the platform.

"Once the tanks are off the train, you will drive through the station, which has been cleared, and out onto the Strand. From there you will follow my car to the palace. Major Howard will remain with you."

#

The disembarkation was quick, as each girl was looking forward to meeting the king. Each tank clattered down from the flatbeds, and they formed up single file on the platform. At the head of the convoy was the Churchill, followed by Tiger 217, then the Sherman 75mm, and then the Panzer IV.H. After them came the other tanks in a random order.

With permission from major Howard, the Churchill lurched forward, tracks clattering as it rumbled through the station. Moving down a tight passageway, the tanks exited the station onto the Strand. The road was empty, crowds being held back by a military/police cordon. Standing outside his car, Churchill waved and them and gestured for them to follow. His car slowly pulled away.

The procession moved down the Strand and onto Trafalgar square, crowds cheering them onward. Despite not knowing who or what they were, the locals correctly guessed that they were here to help. Pulling off the square, the convoy moved down the Mall, towards Buckingham Palace.

Each girl who could opened the nearest hatch on their tank, raised their head, and stared at the palace. This was one of the most famous buildings in the world, home of one of the world's oldest surviving monarchies, even in their time the British monarchy was still going strong.

As the approached, the gates opened, and the Household Guards saluted from their stations. Each tank rattled through the gates, and was directed to a spot in the courtyard. As the last tank came through, the gates closed behind them.

Inside each tank, the crews were tense, they were meeting the King of Great Britain.

Inside the Panzer IV.H Saori was chattering on about possibly finding a boyfriend whilst in Britain, Hana was unflappable as ever, Mako was complaining about wanting to sleep, Yukari was geeking out about all the historical figures they would meet, and Miho was shaking with nerves. Since starting Senshado at Ooari her anxiety had improved, but nothing could prepare her for meeting a King.

Slowly, each crew left their tank, and walked over to where Churchill was waiting with a general. Gathering in front of them, the tank commanders moved to the front of the group.

"So you are the girls who have caused such a ruckus," said the General, looking over the girls, "Well I hope the information you have is worth it. I was dragged away from my men for this."

It was this statement that allowed his identity to be determined, causing Darjeeling to address him, "Lieutenant General Alan Brooke? she asked, "You should still be in France, you're not supposed to return until the 29th of May."

The now identified general looked at her strangely, "What is that supposed to mean miss?"

"That general, is why we are here, these girls have important information. This is part of the reason you were sent home early, one of the girls mentioned your name during a debrief by Brigadier Somerset of Somer Force, defending the southern approaches to Dunkirk. The girls claim to have knowledge of the future, and given everything I've seen and heard so far, I'm inclined to agree with them. Given the knowledge they have, certain people have been excluded from this meeting, and may find themselves soon replaced."

"What meeting sir?" asked the general

"Ahh, a secret meeting general, a very secret meeting. Come, the king awaits us."

#

The journey through the palace was quiet, each girl overwhelmed by the splendour around them. The major who had been with them since Cassel was upfront, talking to the general and Prime Minister, informing them of the occurrences since leaving Cassel. He informed them of the coolness the girls displayed when under fire, and their quick thinking and reaction times. He also told them about how quickly the girls came to terms with being in a war.

Soon they reached a room, deep within the palace. Guarded by two members of the King's Guards stood a great oak door, adorned with the coat of arms of House Windsor. The doors were opened as they approached, stepping through they were met with a long table, with enough seats for everyone. At the head of the table sat a man, a man that each girl, despite never having seen him or pictures of him, knew to be the King.

Out of courtesy and respect the King stood as they entered the room, "Welcome, welcome," he said, in fluent Japanese, drawing a look of shock from all the girls. This was two great British politicians they had met who spoke Japanese. The king laughed at their shock, "Upon becoming king I made an effort to learn as many languages as I could, especially those of the major world players. Now please, sit, I would like to hear what all this is about, but please, I'd ask that those who speak English sit the closest to me, as we cannot have this entire conversation in Japanese, as much as I would like to. Not all of us here speak Japanese."

Churchill seated himself on the King's right, whilst General Brooke took his left. Major Howard sat next to the general, and Darjeeling took the seat next to Churchill. From the seating arrangements, it seemed that all the school commanders spoke English, along with the entireity of the St Gloriana and Saunders teams. It also drew attention that both Erwin and Yukari took seats next to Miho, as close to the King as they could get. When asked they both defended themselves saying that they spoke English really well. As an explanation, they both referred to having to read books in English about their favourite subjects, Rommel and tanks respectively.

With everyone seated, the conversation began.

"Now, what's this I hear about you girls being from the future?" asked the King.

# - Line break because I have no idea how to even write this conversation.

# - What happens is a long conversation about where they're from and what they were

doing before they arrived. But they don't say anything about the timeline of the war.

"Ok, so you're from Japan in the future. If so, why do you wish to help us?" asked General Brooke

Darjeeling, the appointed spokesman, answered, "We discussed this a lot on the journey here, and came to the conclusion that none of us wish to see this world ruled by the Nazis. It would be a nightmare. To this end we want to help defeat them. In any way we can."

"Would you be willing to tell us how we won the war in your time?" asked the general

Erwin quickly spoke up, "I would advise against it, if we were to tell you the future it is possible we could change some things for the worse."

"I would have to agree with the young lady," said Winston Churchill, "And I wish for us to survive and win by our own actions, rather than rely on these young ladies. Not that I would be opposed to their help, just that we shouldn't rely on them too much."

The king nodded in agreement, understanding, and agreeing with Churchill, "If we've decided that we don't want to know the exact future, where do we go from here?"

"I may have a suggestion your majesty," said Major Howard.

"Of course Major, go on,"

"During the battles in France I have noticed that our forces are woefully unprepared to face the mobile German attacks, and the equipment we have is insufficient to combat them effectively. I would suggest that these girls be allowed to train troops here in Britain, and that scientists and engineers be allowed to look over their tanks and examine them. The information gathered from this would allow us to build better tanks, and give us an inside look into some German tank designs."

Maho reinforced the Major's statement, "And of course we have our own experts who would be willing to help them. What the major says falls in line with the agreement we had come to on our way here."

The suggestion drew approving nods from the British present, they could all see the benefits of such a move.

"However, we would like to take a more active approach at some point. We want to do everything we can to end this war, even if that means putting our lives in danger."

That drew some uncomfortable looks, none of the British wished to put girls their age in a war zone, however an unlikely ally came to their aid.

From beside the entrance to the room a soft voice spoke up, "I have to commend these girls on their spirit, they seem determined to fight for a country that isn't their own, in a time that they don't belong, against an enemy that their country seems to be allied with." Turning, they saw a beautiful, black haired woman standing against the wall.

The King sighed, "Elizabeth, how did you get in here?"

"You forget husband, the guards answer to me to, and even if they didn't there are other ways into this room."

Loosing her composure once again, Darjeeling squeaked, "Elizabeth? Husband? Then that means you are Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. It's an honour to meet you."

"Darjeeling-dono, calm," said Orange Pekoe once again.

Smiling at the girls enthusiasm the Queen smiled, "It's an honour to meet such a cultured girl as yourself," she said before turning her attention to her husband, "As I was saying, I have to agree with the girls. They obviously have experience in armoured warfare, more experience than anyone available to us. If they can prove themselves, I say we let them fight. You know that if I could I too would be fighting alongside our men."

"As would I my dear, as would I." Realising that he wouldn't be able to convince his wife otherwise, the king acquiesced, "If the girls can prove themselves effective commanders, I will consider it."

A cheer went up around the table, the girls eager to prove themselves before the British royalty.

Smiling at their enthusiasm, the King turned the conversation towards the war games in which the girls would prove themselves. Calling for an aide, the King ordered chambers to be prepared for each of the girls, and for the great war room to be readied for a series of war games on the morrow.

#

That night was simultaneously the best and worst night of sleep many of the girls had had. Each room was beautifully prepared, with a king sized bed as soft as clouds. However, despite the comfort and luxury, the tension of the upcoming tests caused the commanders to sleep restlessly.

Waking up in the morning, the girls were subjected to a lovely British breakfast, even with the rationing being faced by the British population, the King had pulled out all the stops and used a large amount of his stores to feed the girls, treating like visiting foreign dignitaries, which they essentially were. Used to Japanese cuisine many of the girls were apprehensive about the food, but tried it and soon all were eating calmly. The girls from St Gloriana seemed right at home in the grand dining hall of Buckingham Palace. They were joined by the King and Queen, the two young princesses who quickly struck up a conversation with many of the girls. The princess Elizabeth, the queen from their time, quickly made friends with Darjeeling and the St Gloriana girls. The young Princess Margret however, showed a particular interest in the automobile club, seeing them as a way of escaping her mother's overbearing nature. Unable to do anything in front of their guests, the queen remained quiet.

Breakfast passed quickly, and soon the girls were being led deeper into the Palace. They arrived at a set of doors, outside which waited Winston Churchill, Major Howard, and General Brooke. The king opened the doors and they entered a grand room. In the centre of this room lay a large table, almost 100 square foot in size. The table displayed an array of different terrain, from towns to woodland to hills.

"This," said the King, "Is the war game table commissioned by my father for the purpose of teaching my brother and me the art of war. Today it will be used to test you girls." From tables on the side of the room aides brought forward two boxes, "Within these boxes are the models signifying the units you girls and your opponent will use. General Brooke here will be your opponent. However, to keep it fair, only one of you will be in the room at any time, to stop those going last having an advantage."

General Brooke stepped forward, took his box of units, and stood at one end of the table. Inside the box was a collection of modern military units, from infantry and artillery, to armour and even some aircraft.

"Now, which of you girls wishes to take part?" asked the KIng.

Those who did stepped forward, there were six in all, Maho Nishizumi, Erika Itsumi, Miho Nishizumi, Erwin, Darjeeling, and Kay. These six girls would be the ones to face off against the British general in an attempt to prove themselves able commanders.

#

#

#

**Maho Nishizumi vs Alan Brooke **

The battle between Maho and Brooke set an interesting precedent for the observers. The attacks by Maho were eerily similar to those Brooke had been faced with in France, large numbers of tank assaults, aided by close air support, continuously broke through his defences and cut off his supply lines. His forces were then overrun by the following infantry. However he did notice that she struggled to counter random attacks that split her forces. Maho knew this was her weakness though, and had been working to correct it so she quickly recovered each time. The battle ended with a decisive victory for Maho.

#

**Erika Itsumi vs Alan Brooke**

From the beginning Brooke noticed that Erika used similar tactics to her commander, and so was ready for her. He was prepared for the breakthroughs and close air support, and quickly separated the forces from their reinforcements, hoping that she would show the same weakness as her commander. However his opponent proved to have a greater flair for improvisation than her commander, with the cut off forces acting on their own and not attempting to regroup, and instead capturing strategic locations and foraging for supplies. The victory was even more decisive for Erika. However her tactic did prove ineffective in the later stages when her troops couldn't forage enough supplies, leading to many late game losses.

#

**Darjeeling vs Alan Brooke**

This battle took the longest out of any of them, both sides took the same approach to the battle. Slow methodical approaches followed by intense firefights. Brooke proved to be more manoeuvrable in his advances, quickly taking strategic locations and flanking enemy forces. But Darjeeling proved effective in digging in her units when necessary before launching attacks when the tides proved right. The speed at which she could go from defence to attack was unable to be beaten by the general. The battle ended with a victory for Darjeeling, not as close as he would like, but closer than against the Kuromorimine girls.

#

**Kay vs Alan Brooke**

This was an interesting battle for Brook, despite having the same number of forces, he constantly found his units facing overwhelming numbers. Where he thought he had overwhelming firepower, he quickly found that enemy reinforcements were suddenly everywhere and he was outgunned. However, this ended up being causing a problem for Kay who's forces needed to be in multiple places at once. Brooke used this to his advantage and ambushed many units whilst between fire fights. It wasn't enough, and he soon found himself in retreat, as his early game loss of vital units caught up with him. The battle was extremely close, with both sides suffering heavy losses.

#

**Miho Nishizumi vs Alan Brooke**

This battle would later prove to be one of the toughest in his career, even when compared to battles against German generals. Miho proved herself to be an extremely able commander, able to quickly separate forces from each other, and destroy them, and leaving the area before reinforcements arrived. She proved capable of quickly changing tactics, one minute it would be like fighting her sister, then suddenly he was fighting the American, before then fighting the British girl. She quickly improvised to combat any advance he made. The battle was a total wipeout for Brooke, with only minimal losses for Miho.

#

**Erwin vs Alan Brooke**

General Alan Brooke had never been so utterly humiliated, this opponent wasn't one of the main school commanders, and yet had proven to be his most difficult foe. Every move he made was countered immediately, and even numerically inferior forces were able to hold off, or even rout his units. Units which had been on the move seconds before were suddenly entrenched in positions that were impossible to assail. He found himself deceived time and time again as units he thought were there turned out to be somewhere else, launching a devastating attack. He found any defensive lines he made easily cracked by the opposing commander. The only flaw he could find in her tactics was that her units sometimes overstretched themselves, but she seemed to know this and they were immediately reinforced or pulled back when necessary, often causing disruption to his deployment. The battle ended with not only a complete wipe out, but for every area on the board to have at least one of her units nearby.

#

With the final battle over, the observers were astounded, but for very different reasons. The Japanese school girls were shocked at the command ability shown by Erwin, and how effortlessly she seemed to wield her forces. The British observers were shocked at the skill shown by each girl when facing a new opponent, and how they all seemed aware of the weaknesses of their tactics but took measures to fix them.

The girls from Ooari ran up to Erwin, "Erwin-san, why didn't you tell us you could do that?"

Erwin looked away, hands fidgeting by her side, "I didn't really know I was that good. I mean I've spent so long researching Rommel and learning about him, but I never thought I'd be able to use his tactics."

Miho spoke up, "But why didn't you try to become team commander?"

"Because I didn't want to. I enjoy commanding a tank yes, but having command of a whole team was too much responsibility."

Any further conversation was stalled by the approach of the King and Prime Minister. Winston Churchill spoke first, "Any reservations we had about you girls have been corrected by such a fine display of tactical genius, especially you two, miss Nishizumi and miss Erwin."

Said girls blushed brightly.

The King continued Churchill's statement, "I have to agree, and I believe that if you girls are willing, we would like for you to teach some of my commanders how to fight. And in the future, if necessary, lead my forces against the Nazis.

#

The girls quickly agreed, and preparations were made for the girls to be moved to Salisbury Plains where they would teach the next generation of tactical geniuses. They would also be joined by some of the finest engineers and scientists in Britain. These scientists and engineers would examine their tanks and draw up designs for improved British tanks. The first of these new designs would roll of the production line in late July of 1940, and with royal approval would be put into mass production soon afterwards. By the time the girls were finally called up in April of 1941, these new tanks would be the backbone of their forces.


	5. Chapter 5

The year of 1940 went much as it did historically, the Battle of Britain was still fought in the skies over Great Britain, the British people remained resilient, even through the horrors of the Blitz, and the Royal Navy continued to fight on the high seas. In North Africa the British army quickly routed the Italian forces, driving them back hundreds of miles.

Churchill remained determined to continue the war, and made several speeches the were to become famous, however one staple of his speeches were subtle references to a secret weapon that are only noticeable to historians who have studied the war.

However, there were many minor changes that would result in a very different war occurring.

May of 1940

Very little changed during the remainder of the month of May. The evacuation at Dunkirk went as it should have done, however when the numbers came in for the number of men evacuated the girls were surprised to see that it was over 400000. When they investigated this change, the girls found out that the Brigadier they met in Cassel, Nigel Somerset, was able to pull back most of his Somer Force in time for them to be evacuated. The Brigadier himself was able to catch the last boat out of Dunkirk and was met on the docks by the Prime Minister and the King.

June of 1940

The evacuation of the British and French armies from Dunkirk was a resounding success. More ships of the Royal Navy braved the English Channel, with battleships anchoring off Dunkirk to provide cover for the evacuation. The increased British naval presence provided an effective deterrent for German planes and u-boats which would have otherwise harassed the evacuation fleet.

It was during the month of June that some bigger changes happened.

The Italian declaration of war on the 10th of June had been expected by British High Command, and as a result the British forces in North and East Africa had been mobilised to attack immediately.

With subtle hints and advice from the girls, Churchill was prepared for the French surrender on the 22nd of June and had made preparations for an evacuation of any remaining French forces, and for the French fleet to be sailed from its bases to the nearest British naval base. When the French fleets arrived, they were immediately placed under the command of Admiral Darlan, Admiral of the French Fleet. His original proposal had been refused by the Admiral Darlan who was determined to keep the French fleet out of German hands. However, Churchill was advised by one of the girls who had an almost divine ability to get people to do things she wanted. A meeting between Churchill and Admiral Darlan, with Anzu present, only two days before the surrender resulted in every available French ship being sailed to a British port. This resulted in over 200 extra vessels being available to the Allies.

July 1940

The month of July was the beginning of the air battle known as the Battle of Britain. German aircraft were determined to destroy the RAF and prepare the way for a ground invasion. However, it proved ineffective. With advice from the girls Churchill had ordered the fighter groups further north, away from the southernmost air bases, in which were left decoys, so as to prevent losses on the ground. The fighter groups were still kept close enough to protect southern installations such as the radar posts.

July also unveiled the new and improved weapons and vehicles that had been designed following examination of the Senshado tanks, and with assistance from the automobile club who knew how to get the most out of every engine. With the new prototype tanks and aircraft proving a resounding success on all fronts, they were quickly put into mass production. The new vehicles also proved quicker and easier to build. In the first two weeks over 50 aircraft were produced in only one factory. By the end of August factories nationwide were building the new and improved Spitfire models. These fighters were faster and much more agile than the historical Spitfires, and were armed with faster firing machine guns, and even 2 20mm cannons in space of two Browning machine guns.

August 1940

The battle of Britain heats up, more and more German planes were being sent across the channel to destroy British forces. However the tactic still proves ineffective and German losses kept climbing. British losses were relatively small by comparison, the new fighters being deployed to the southernmost air groups first. In frustration at Goring's incompetence, Hitler ordered the bombing of southern towns and cities in an attempt to drain British morale. This did not go as planned. In retaliation to a devastating bombing of the naval port at Portsmouth, the RAF launched their own bombing raid on Germany, with bombers going so far as to reach Berlin.

September 1940

The Blitz began in earnest. Following the bombing of Berlin, Hitler ordered that British cities should be wiped off the map. German bombers blackened the sky as hundreds of them headed for London in the beginning of one of the most destructive bombing campaigns of the war. Prominent members of the British leadership, up to the King and Queen, were often seen touring the areas most heavily affected by the bombings, and despite pleading from many politicians, the Royal Family refused to leave London. It was during these tours that rumours begin to spread, when a previously unknown fair-haired girl was often seen with the heir presumptive. This new girl was often seen helping wounded, offering food and water to the homeless, and not against clambering through rubble to help find trapped people. The willingness of this girl, to help those in need, endeared her greatly to the British people. Her name was heard by a journalist and soon the name Darjeeling became a household name, on the same stage as Churchill and King George.

In mid September, the Italians attempt an invasion of Egypt, it doesn't go well and the Italians are held off, but the British don't attack.

In late September an alliance was signed between Germany, Italy and Japan. In preparation for a war with Japan, large numbers of Allied vessels were deployed to the Far East.

October 1940

The improved British tanks were circulated through the British Army and were deployed to the divisions still in the British Isles first. The training British soldiers in tank warfare is stepped up, those who had objections to being taught by girls, soon found their objections unfounded.

In late October, the Italians invaded Greece. Minimal support was sent by Britain, but the Greeks proved effective at holding of the Italian forces.

This month was the end of the Battle of Britain, after suffering extremely heavy losses Hitler ordered that German attacks be limited to a lower number of planes, and to the bombing of cities.

December 1940

The British launch a major offensive from Egypt into Libya, driving the Italian back hundreds of miles. By the next month Tobruk has fallen to the British and Australian forces.

February 1941

Worried about the British advances in North Africa, and the predicted Italian collapse, Hitler dispatched General Erwin Rommel to North Africa, with a Panzer regiment, and orders to halt the British advance. Rommel took the orders further, and began a counter attack in late March.

April 1941

Rommel's counter attack proved devastatingly successful, by April the 8th the Libya city of Tobruk, under occupation by Commonwealth forces, had been surrounded by Rommel's Afrika Korps. The speed and efficiency with which he had launched the offensive earned him the name the Desert Fox. However, because of the siege of Tobruk, he could not continue into Egypt. But there was not way for the British forces to either break out of Tobruk, or break the siege from outside.

Seeing the stalemate that had arisen in North Africa, and realising that the siege of Tobruk couldn't carry on, Churchill finally made the decision to call up the girls. He wanted the war in North Africa over as soon as possible.


	6. Not a Chapter

**A/N** **Not a chapter, more of an explanation of some of the new tank designs that will be fielded by the British forces thanks to the girls' arrival. Despite the seemingly overpowered nature of many of them, I promise the German forces will, at some point, field their own tanks to counter them. I may even have the Maus be deployed earlier.**

**Improved British Tank Designs**

**Light Tanks & Infnatry Tanks**

1\. Brudenell Tank - Light Tank

Top Speed - 56mph

Armour - 75mm/50mm/50mm

Main Gun - 75mm

Crew - 4

The first tank to be designed using the Senshado engines, the Brudenell tank was designed purely to see how fast the new engines could go. Not designed for combat per se, but for recon purposes.

2\. Churchill - Infantry Tank

Top Speed - 24mph

Armour - 150/100/100

Main Gun - 88mm

Crew - 5

Using designs that had already been drawn up, the Churchill tank was improved with a faster engine, and a more powerful main gun. The improved engine allowed for the tank to have a faster top speed whilst not sacrificing armour or firepower. The 88mm was added to allow the Churchill to have viable anti tank capabilites.

**Medium Tanks**

1\. Cromwell Tank

Top Speed - 47mph

Armour - 100/80/80

Main Gun - 17pdr

Crew - 5

Essentially a historical Comet but with a higher top speed, the Cromwell was designed to be the main battle tank of the British forces. The tank was designed with help from Rosehip who wanted to drive a fast tank that actually had some firepower, as much as she liked her Crusader, the 6pdr disappointed her.

2\. Comet

Top Speed - 43mph

Armour - 110/85/85

Main Gun - 88mm

Crew - 5

A variation of the Cromwell, the Comet was designed as an up gunned version that would be used to ambush German forces, the increased firepower allowing for most targets to be destroyed in one shot, thereby decreasing the time needed to destroy the same number of tanks as a Cromwell. The increased armour and heavier gun slowed the tanks slightly, but not enough to mean much.

3\. Glyndwr Tank

Top Speed - 35mph

Armour - 150/120/120

Main Gun - 88mm

Crew - 5

Designed by a Welsh mechanic, the Glyndwr was designed as a tank suited to mountainous terrain. With experimental suspension and chassis, the tank was designed to go up hills at a credible speed. This would allow for British tanks to take mountainous areas and strike from where the Germans didn't expect it. The tank was essentially designed to cross the Alps.

**Heavy Tanks**

1\. Kitchener Tank

Top Speed - 32mph

Armour - 200/175/175

Main Gun 88mm

Crew - 6

Named after the First World War General, the Kitchener was designed to be a battleship of the land. With its 200mm frontal armour, sloped at a 35 degree angle, the tank was designed to take hits and survive. It was to act as a shield for the lighter tanks, and to approach defensive lines that Infantry would be unable to take without armour support, but the normal armour support was unable to get close. Even the famous German flak 88 anti tank gun would struggle to penetrate the armour.

2\. Black Prince

Top Speed - 27mph

Armour - 150/125/125

Main Gun - 17pdr

Crew - 5

A slightly less powerful but faster and more heavily armoured Churchill, the Black Prince was designed to be more tank combat focused than the Churchill whilst still able to escort infantry units.

**Tank Destroyers and Self Propelled Guns**

1\. Victoria Tank Destroyer

Top Speed - 44mph

Armour - 90/75/75

Main Gun - 88mm

Crew - 4

Not designed for front line combat, the Victoria was designed to be an ambush predator. The high top speed and low profile allowed it to race behind enemy lines, lie in wait, and strike supply convoys. The speed allowed the tank to quickly displace itself, whilst the heavily sloped frontal armour ensured that most enemy shots would bounce off.

2\. Gloriana Tank Destroyer/Self Propelled Gun

Top Speed - 25mph

Armour - 140/120/120

Main Gun - 152mm

Crew - 7

Designed simply for firepower. The Gloriana tank destroyer was designed solely by Orange Pekoe with minor assistance from members of Leopon team. A slow, cumbersome tank, the Gloriana was designed not for combat, but to sit miles away, and pick off enemy units. The 152mm main gun could be loaded with a variety of shell from the standard armour piercing, to the high explosive, to bunker buster shells. With a gunners sight able to pick out targets over 6 miles away, the tank could be used to destroy defensive lines or attacking forces before the enemy even knew the British were there.

**Main Battle Tank**

1\. Centurion

Top Speed - 52mph

Armour - 150/100/100

Main Gun - 88mm

Crew - 5

Designed during the last few weeks before deployment, the Centurion was more wish fulfilment than anything else. It was designed to be the first of a new breed of tank, with the speed of a light tank, firepower of a medium tank, and armour of a heavy tank. It's design however was too advanced even for the now technologically advanced British engineers construction would have to wait until mechanical technology increased a bit more.


	7. Chapter 6

"Remember, the most important thing about armoured warfare is to always keep an eye on your surroundings, no tank is invincible any any tank can be destroyed in one hit if it is hit correctly. And make sure that, whenever you can, you get the first shot in, and make it count."

Maho paced back and forth in front of the men, "Armoured warfare is amongst the toughest warfare known, it is also some of the most dangerous. A tank is a coffin for the unprepared. Always be on guard."

The men stood silently, they had been training under various girls for almost a year now. At the beginning there had been a few dissenters, but they had quickly been put in their place.

Erika spoke from where she stood beside her tank, "Remember, you are a tank, not an infantryman. Your main focus should be to engage enemy vehicles, leave the infantry for the infantryman. Provide fire support when necessary or when asked, but if an enemy tank joins the battle, focus on taking it out."

The men of the newly formed 12th Armoured Division knew most of this by now, but they knew better than to say anything, the last man who had had been ordered to run thirty laps around the Plains. That was eight months ago, but the lesson was never forgotten. Despite their silence each man wished that someone else was doing this final briefing, someone like Darjeeling, or Kay, or even Miho who, despite her nervousness, was their best instructor. But those girls were elsewhere today.

Maho continued the briefing, "A tank must be in motion as much as possible, a stationary tank is a dead tank, to that end always keep your treads intact. If the treads are destroyed, fix them as soon as possible."

Erika spoke next, "Always angle your armour, many parts of the armour of your tanks are flat, angle the vehicle to decrease the likelihood of penetration."

"Avoid towns and cities as much as you can. Tight streets and blind corners are death traps for a tank, leave them to the infantry unless absolutely necessary."

Before the briefing could get any further however, Maho's driver ran up to them, "Nishizumi-dono, Itsumi-dono, Darjeeling-dono has asked that you report to the command centre. Apparently the Prime Minister is on his way, the way she said it seems to mean that we may soon have a mission."

Maho nodded, "Understood," she turned to the parade, "Parade dismissed."

Maho and Erika followed the driver towards the command tower in the centre of the base.

#

The past year had been educational for many of the girls. The girls from Saunders, Kuromorimine, Anglerfish team, and Hippo team had spent much of their time teaching the new recruits armoured warfare. The girls of Turtle team had focused on the logistical side of things, making production of the new tank designs that Leopon team had created efficient, and deploying those tanks to the divisions that needed them most. Anzu had spent a lot of time with Winston Churchill, reporting on the training and production. The girls of St Gloriana had spent much of their time with the Royal Family, and helping those displaced by the German bombing and working with the Red Cross.

Many of the girls had changed over the year; Miho had grown more confident, losing a lot of the nervousness she had; Saori had made friends amongst the younger recruits but was no longer focused on getting a boyfriend and was satisfied with friendships; Mako no longer had problems waking up early, the military routine helping her blood pressure massively; Yukari was still much them same, if not more enthusiastic about tanks given the input she had had in the new designs; Hana was the only one that hadn't changed much of Anglerfish team.

Hippo team had changed a lot as well, proving themselves capable commanders and teachers they, quickly found themselves put in charge of teaching strategy. Caesar found herself teaching the importance of team work and unit cohesion, often running team building exercises; Saemonza found herself teaching archery to the recruits in an attempt to teach them accuracy and rate of fire, whilst also making every shot count, and how accurate fire can win a battle; Oryou taught the importance of quick thinking and discipline, and how that translated into driving a tank. But the biggest change was in Erwin, having proved herself in the test against General Brooke she soon found herself a common attendee to meetings between the school commanders where they would run through the historical timeline and when and where they could possibly be deployed, and how they would change things from there. She often found herself consulted by the commanders in how to counter specific German generals if they met them. But the time where she would prove herself to the British people as a whole was soon coming. The war would proceed very differently following her intervention, and not necessarily always for the better.

#

Erwin had awoken that day expecting the same routine, but when she looked at the calendar on her wall she realised the importance of the date, the 10th of April 1941, Rommel had reached, and besieged, Tobruk. As a result it came as little shock to her when she was called away during her morning class.

Entering the command tower she was met by Miho and Darjeeling, both of whom had been present when the call came through from Anzu that the Prime Minister was on his way. They were soon joined by Kay, and then Maho and Erika.

With all the commanders present, Darjeeling began, "An hour ago, we received a telephone call from Anzu in London. In it she said the the British forces are having trouble in North Africa, Erwin Rommel has lived up to, and received the moniker, the Desert Fox. Within the past week Rommel has driven his forces over 300 miles to the Libya city of Tobruk. Now begins the war for North Africa in earnest."

Miho picked up the thread, "According to Anzu, Churchill has decided that if we are willing, now is the time for us to be deployed. None of us have to go, both he and the King have made that clear, but those who wish to go will be allowed. Anzu has already told him that she and the student council will remain in Britain, they gave their reason as being better at the logistical side of things. To that end they will be coordinating our deployment, and the usage of the new tanks. Darjeeling has also voted to remain behind."

Darjeeling drew looks from the girls so she explained, "I have a lot of work to do with the Red Cross, and I am close to the Royal Family so I will be a liason with them. Also someone needs to stay behind to continue teaching new recruits."

Accepting the explanation, they turned back to Miho, "We have also spoken with Leopon team, who were here when the call came through, and as much as they wish to stay and continue designing tanks, they also want to see the tanks already built in action."

With Miho finished, Darjeeling addressed them, "Now, take the time to decide what you wish to do. Discuss it with your crews and teams as well, this involves all of us."

Signalling their agreement each of the girls left, the silence thick as they contemplated their decisions.

#

Erwin and Miho left together to find their teams, as they would inevitably be in the same place at this time. Entering the tank garage where the Panzer IV.H and the Stug III were held they came across the other members of Anglerfish and Hippo teams. Mako lay on the engine block of the Panzer IV, Hana sat next to her. Yukari, Saori, Caesar, Saemonza and Oryou all sat on the Stug III playing a card game. All of them looked up as their commanders entered.

"Miporin," called Saori, waving her over.

Miho smiled at Saori's enthusiasm, she had been less enthusiastic at the beginning of their time here, given when and where they were, but over the year she had returned to her old self, with only her attitudes towards boys changing slightly. Spending so much time around boys and men had blunted her enthusiasm towards getting a boyfriend.

"Hana-san, please wake Mako-san up, we need to speak to all of you," Miho asked Hana

"I'm awake," came the tired voice of Mako as she sat up before jumping off the Panzer.

"Mako-san, be careful," said Hana, when Mako jumped straight down.

Mako waved Hana off as she walked over to Miho, quickly followed by everyone else.

Soon, all the girls were gathered, Miho handed over to Erwin to make the announcement, which Erwin took in her stride, "It's finally time. An hour ago we received a call from the student council, Prime Minister Churchill is on his way to ask for our help. We all know of the legned of Erwin Rommel, the man from whom I took my soul name, and even despite our presence in this time, he has lived up to history. He has lived up to the name the Desert Fox, at this very moment, his armies are besieging Tobruk. Churchill has decided that enough is enough, and that if we are willing, we are to be deployed. Now none of you have to say yes, it's fine if you don't want to join the war, we are still only high school girls after all, but I for one have already made my decision."

The speech by Erwin was unexpected, but Miho was smiling, she knew that Erwin had it in her to be a great leader. And if she had indeed decided to join the war, as Miho herself had and believed she had, then Erwin would prove herself as one of the greatest commanders in the war.

Roused by the speech, the girls of Anglerfish and Hippo cheered.

"We'll join you Erwin," cried Caesar, "Where you go, we go." Agreements were voiced by Saemonza and Oryou.

Even without Miho saying anything, Anglerfish team proved they were great friends that knew her well when they also quickly agreed to go, "You cannot go without us Miporin. We've been with you since the beginning" said Saori.

Miho's smiled widened and tears filled her eyes, "Thank you Saori-san. Thank you Hana-san. Thank you Mako-san. Thank you Yukari-san."

Similar events were happening with the girls from other schools.

The Saunders girls were all in favour of joining the war, buoyed by Kay's enthusiasm.

The girls from Kuromorimine were also all in favour, having been trained by the greatest Senshado team in Japan, and in the military style regime of Shiho Nishizumi, the girls were the most prepared for war. Most of them having joined the shool with the aim of joining the military afterwards.

The girls from St Gloriana were different, with Darjeeling opting to remain in Britain, many of the girls debated staying behind as well. However, Rosehip was very eager to join the war, just for the adrenaline and speed rush, her crew were much the same. Of Darjeeling's Churchill, only Orange Pekoe wished to join the war. Assam wanted to stay behind and work with MI6. This created a bit of a problem for them as Orange Pekoe couldn't command a tank on her own. But that was solved by Rosehip who said that she didn't want to take her Crusader to North Africa and would rather use one of the newer tanks. Darjeeling agreed and said that if it was OK with Churchill, she could use one of the new Cromwell tanks, which she had put a lot of effort into. Rosehip had thanked Darjeeling profusely before running off to find one.

By the time Churchill arrived with the student council, the girls were all assembled at the landing strip to meet him.

#

The transport plane slowly rolled to a stop, a door on the side opened and a set of stairs dropped out. The form of Winston Churchill appeared in the doorway, customary cigar in mouth, quickly followed by that of Anzu, then Momo, then Yuzu.

Churchill smiled at the waiting group, "How wonderful to see you all again. I thank you very much for the advise you have given me over the past year."

"It's good to see you as well Mr Prime Minister," said Darjeeling.

"How many times Darjeeling, do I have to say that it's just Winston. Even Elizabeth has asked you to call her by her name."

"At least once more Mr Prime Minister."

Churchill sighed, before turning to the others, "And how are you young ladies?"

Several voices responded positively, making Churchill smile, "Now I'm very sorry to have to be here girls, but I don't see any other options. As much as I don't want to ask high school girls to go to war, you are still the most qualified people I have available."

"It's no worry Mr Churchill, we knew this was a possibility when we realised where we were. And we have already had this discussion multiple times over the past year, and the events of the year have just reinforced our decision," said Maho, speaking for the girls.

"I know you have, the girls with me have had the same discussion. But I still wish I didn't have to ask."

"We offered Mr Churchill,"

"I know, I know. Well, shall we get on with business, let's go to the command room."

The walk was silent, no one wanting to say anything until they were ready.

Gathered around a table, the girls waited for Churchill to speak.

"Now," he said, "You say you have discussed joining the war. And to what decision have you come?"

"Most of us have decided to join the war. The only ones who haven't seem to the student council, Darjeeling, and Assam."

Turning to Darjeeling and Assam, Churchill asked, "And why have you decided to remain behind?" There was no judgement in his voice, only curiosity.

Assam answered first, "I wish to work with MI6, our intervention in this war will cause a lot of trouble and will change things. I wish to ensure that we know exactly what is happening."

Churchill nodded, "A good point, if your presence changes things from the timeline you know, then having intelligence on German actions would be a good idea."

Darjeeling spoke next, "And I wish to work with the Red Cross, and act as a Royal Liason for the group."

"Another good idea, and I know that Princess Elizabeth will be very glad to hear of it. However, what about you miss?" Churchill asked Orange Pekoe, "Your commander and gunner seem to be staying behind."

"I wish to go, there's nothing for me to do if I stay behind."

"And how will you go? You can't command a tank on your own."

"We've thought of that Mr Churchill. And if you are agreeable, I'll join Rosehip's crew and we'll take one of the new Cromwell tanks."

"That is agreeable, and what about the rest of you girls? What tanks will you take?"

The girls had previously agreed that they would all take their own tanks. In preparation all of their Senshado tanks have been reinforced in various ways, and munitions for each of the guns had been procured. Each tank now had a compliment of live shells, both armour piercing and high explosive. As these shells were now practically standard, they could safely use their own tanks in battle.

"We will take our own tanks Mr Prime Minister, we are attached to them and have the most experience with them."

Churchill's face grew sombre, "Some of those tanks are very obviously German, especially the Tigers and the Panzer IV."

"We could repaint them," said Saori, "Make them look like British tanks."

Churchill pondered that, "It could work, but you run the risk of drawing friendly fire from long range."

The crews of the German tanks spoke up, "We'll take that risk, Mr Churchill. We know those tanks very intimately, and would feel the most comfortable using them."

"I can see I won't be able to change your minds, in that case let's move on to the actual forces you'll be with."

Churchill produced a set of papers from a briefcase he had brought with him, "The force you will be attached to will consist of 30,000 men and 3,000 tanks, tank destroyers and self propelled guns. Thanks to the training by you girls, the tanks will be organised into brigades with motorised infantry. You have warned about the weaknesses of pure armour divisions so we have followed your advise and gone for a mixture of armour and infantry," He handed the papers around the table, "This paper details the forces you will be with and the Order of Battle."

Each of the girls took the time to study the paper. It read as below

**Order of Battle 12th Armoured Division**

Commander in Chief - Major General Nigel Somerset

**Sub Commanders** -

Brigadier Maho Nishizumi

Brigadier Miho Nishizumi

Brigadier Erika Itsumi

Brigadier Riko 'Erwin' Matsumoto

Brigadier Kay

**Brigades** -

**24th Hussars** \- Commander - Brigadier Kay

**31st Motorised** \- Commander - Brigadier Miho Nishizumi

**4th Armoured Brigade** \- Commander - Brigadier Erika Itsumi

**12th Armoured Brigade** \- Commander - Brigadier Maho Nishizumi

**7th Tank Brigade** \- Commander - Brigadier Riko 'Erwin' Matsumoto

Brigade Strength :-

**24th Hussars** -

8,000 Motorised Infantry

400 Brudenell Light Tanks

150 Comet Medium tanks

**31st Motorised** -

8,000 Mechanised Infantry

400 Cromwell Medium Tanks

200 Comet Medium Tanks

**4th Armoured Brigade** -

4,000 Motorised Infantry

400 Kitchener Heavy Tanks

200 Victoria Tank Destroyers

**12th Armoured Brigade** -

4,000 Motorised Infantry

400 Kitchener Heavy Tanks

20 Glyndwr Medium Tanks

180 Victoria Tank Destroyers

**7th Tank Brigade** -

6,000 Mechanised Infantry

300 Comet and Cromwell Medium Tanks

200 Kitchener Heavy Tanks

150 Victoria Tank Destroyers

Needless to say, the girls were shocked, "Is this right Mr Prime Minister?" asked Kay, her usual enthusiasm absent from her voice.

"It is Brigadier Kay," there was pride in his voice, "You girls have done a lot for my country. Even though I told you not to tell me anything about the future, you've still given the people of Britain a brighter tomorrow. The improvements to our aircraft thanks to you tanks and your automobile club gave us a significant advantage against the Luftwaffe. And I don't really need to say anything about the new tanks. You girls have given us a fighting hope. And I hope that you continue that and give hope to the soldiers on the front line. To that end I am giving you command of most of the British Army, and almost all of its tanks."

Erika brought up an interesting question, "Mr Churchill, these papers have to be at least a few days if not a few weeks old. How did you know we would agree to help you?"

Churchill smiled slyly, "I had hope, and faith in you. You've never hidden your wish to join the war effort, and the student council were always on about how good each of you were and how good you would be as commanders. Now that I think about it they were probably influencing me to choose you as the relief force for North Africa, amongst other things."

Anzu grinned from behind Churchill.

"I know you are grinning Miss Kadatoni,"

Anzu's grin grew wider.

"What now then?" asked Miho, coming over her shock.

"Now, we evidently prepare for war," said Maho, placing a comforting hand on her sister's shoulder.


	8. Chapter 8

After spending much of your life on a massive aircraft carrier, ships usually lose all appeal. But when standing on the bridge of the British Battleship HMS King George V, that proved not to be the case. Despite being much smaller than their school ships, the battleship inspired awe in the mind of every girl aboard.

The battleship was leading the relief convoy to North Africa, the convoy consisted over over 50 transport ships, escorted by 37 destroyers, 16 cruisers, 3 battleships, and two aircraft carriers. German U-boats had been spotted at various points during the voyage, but stayed away from the immense fleet. A few land based aircraft had attempted to attack the fleet, but were beaten off by fighters from the two carriers.

At the mouth of the Mediterranean, the convoy was met by ships from the French fleet, upping their contingent by another 20 destroyers and 12 cruisers. It took them almost three weeks, but on the 29th of May, in the dead of night, the fleet arrived at Tobruk.

#

'There it is' though Brigadier Erwin, 'The one city that caused so much trouble for the Desert Fox. The city which saved the British in North Africa, without them even knowing it.' Erwin was eager to land, she wanted to face off against the famous Desert Fox, the man she had admired for years. Many of the soldiers and sailors she had encountered during the voyage had questioned he choice of attire, even Major General Somerset had. But she defended it saying that despite him being the enemy, Rommel was to be admired given his tactical ability. The soldiers soon gave up when they realised their officers knew the girl and trusted her, when asked the officers told them that they had trained under all the girls. Whilst many of the rank and file had doubts about serving under the girls, all the officers and tank crews had trained under them so knew their abilities.

In the distance the flash of artillery fire could be seen, the sound of the guns echoing out seconds later. Erwin knew that Rommel was due to attack tomorrow, she also knew that he would be more determined to succeed having most likely heard about the imminent relief force. Erwin knew that if Rommel broke through before they could land, their mission would get that much harder.

She was so engrossed in the view that she almost didn't notice Miho walk up beside her in her British officers uniform, with the pips denoting her rank gleaming brightly on her shoulder. Despite being uncomfortable with the rank, Miho looked right at home in the military uniform. Even Erwin could never look like that in her uniform, despite wearing a German uniform every day for years. 'It must be a Kuromorimine thing' she thought, remembering how comfortable Erika and Maho looked in theirs.

"I've read about this. The siege of Tobruk, the campaign for North Africa. It was a major area for armoured warfare so was taught often in Kuromorimine. But I never thought I'd be here," said Miho quietly

"None of us did. I mean who could expect a storm right out of a movie to appear and send us back to 1940."

"I suppose, but we seem to have adapted well."

"Indeed we have," The two girls looked into the bridge of the HMS King Geoge V, where Winston Churchill stood with Major General Somerset, Admiral John Tovey, and the rest of the Senshado commanders, "We've trained for real combat for almost a year, and we've also all seen real combat, not much, but we've all be under fire and fired upon an enemy."

Miho nodded, "That is true, but this is war, real war, not the little firefight we had in France. Here we'll be under heavy, almost constant fire, live fire, not the Senshado rounds we are used to."

Erwin brought up the elephant in the room, "It is quite possible that some of us will not make it out of this alive."

"I know, I had been avoiding that thought, but looking at the city, I can't any more."

They lapsed into silence, just watching the city.

They sensed more than heard the person behind them, "It's a horrendous sight isn't it girls," said Nigel Somerset, looking at the city, "I really wish you girls weren't here."

"We chose to be here General, to fight the Nazis is our choice. Defeating the Nazis would be the best thing for both our nations." said Miho, not looking away from the city.

"I know that, I just don't like the idea of young girls such as yourselves being in war."

"Well we were most likely going to end up in a war anyway, things back home were tense, and war seemed imminent. At least here we have an advantage. And there are no nuclear weapons capable of wiping out entire cities, at least not yet."

Knowing it was some future thing, Somerset didn't ask about the nuclear weapons but kept the term in mind, "Anyway," he said, "It it what it is. And to that end, we'll be heading ashore soon. In about an hour the artillery stationed in Tobruk will open fire on the German positions. We are to land ashore under cover of darkness, and move up to the defences. Hopefully we'll land unnoticed, but I doubt it."

"How many will be landing?" asked Erwin

"Well there are enough docks for four ships to dock at once, and they'll take about 2 hours to unload everything, so around twelve or sixteen ships should unload before we lose cover of darkness."

Erwin looked thoughtful, "If I may General, I believe we should cut the number of ships landing."

The general raised and eyebrow and looked at her, "Why?" he asked.

"Rommel likes to perform extensive reconnaissance before a battle. If we were to land around 12,000 troops he would notice. If we want to goad him into a battle he's going to need to think that the fleet hasn't been able to land yet. To ensure that, I would recommend that only eight ships dock in the port and unload, but that they then load up a full compliment of troops from the shore, and then sail to the very rear of the fleet. This way there has been no overall increase in the number of troops in and around the city, not a noticeable one anyway. If the new tanks are hidden well enough, Rommel need never know that reinforcements have already landed. If, when dawn breaks, you can make the fleet either seem like it just arrived, or have it actually sail from the horizon, then Rommel will assume that we haven't been able to land the relief force and will launch the attack he invariably has planned if recent reports from the city are correct."

Miho took up the trai of thought, "And if he launches the attack, the relief forces will repel his assault, due to them being fresh and better equipped."

"Exactly, and if the German troops take losses even half as heavy as I predict, then a counter attack should break the encirclement. Rommel will throw everything he has into this attack, he wants to take the city before we can land. We don't have the facilities or equipment to conduct a seaborne invasion, so we wouldn't be able to shell the city for fear of hitting our own men, or damaging the dock facilities."

Somerset stood stock still, his brain still trying to catch up with the plan made by the girl. When his brain finally started working, he realised that the plan could quite possibly work. He turned to go and tell the Prime Minister, but the Prime Minister was already stood behind him with Admiral Tovey. The Prime Minister was smiling proudly, "What did I tell you, tactical geniuses, all of them."

The admiral nodded, "Any doubts I had about them are gone now, that plan is brilliant. And well within our capabilities. I also agree that having the fleet just arrive, maybe halfway through the battle, would reinforce the idea."

"Get on the horn then Admiral, let the city know."

#

It was decided that Brigadier Erwin's brigade would be the one to land and repel Rommel. Despite the obvious honour, Erwin was nervous about it. She would be the first to face real combat, to have command of men in a real combat situation. As ordered, an hour after the plan was decided, the artillery barrage began and the first four ships made for shore. Over the next eight hours, eight transports docked at Tobruk, unloading and reloading 6,000 men and over 1500 mechanised and armoured units.

Erwin made sure to be the first off the ship, with her Stug III painted in British colours, the tank rolled down the ramp and onto the dock. It wasn't too hot inside the tank, but Erwin knew that when day broke the heat would rocket. The obviously German tank drew some strange looks from the crowd of soldiers gathered on the dock, the tension wasn't helped when Erwin raised her head, revealing the German officers hat. She could see some of the soldiers fingering their weapons, but before they could raise them the commander of Tobruk stepped forward, "Brigadier Riko Matsumoto?" asked Lieutenant General Leslie Morshead.

"Yes sir, you are Lieutenant General Morshead I presume?"

"I am, when I heard I would be receiving reinforcements I didn't think it would be a woman driving a German tank. Has the promotion gone to General Somerset's head or did he loose his mind after being driven from France."

"Neither. He had his own reservations but at the end of the day is following orders," replied Erwin

"Orders from whom? The fairies?"

"That would be me General,"

Morshead looked behind Erwin and immediately came to attention, "Mr Prime Minister sir, it's an honour."

"That it may be," said Winston Churchill, walking down the ramp of the transport ship, "These girls have my full confidence and have proven themselves before both myself and his royal highness."

"Girls, Mr Prime Minister, as in more than one?"

"Yes general, there are around thirty being deployed if I remember correctly, five of which have been given the Brigadier rank. Brigadier Matsumoto here is the first."

"Matsumoto? Now that I think about that sounds Japanese, what the bloody hell is a Jap doing here, and in the British army?"

"None of that general, these girls offered their services, and have constantly proven themselves both able and willing. Whilst they may not wish to fight against their own countrymen should it come to war with Japan, they are more than willing to fight Hitler and his Nazi hordes."

Chastised, but still unhappy, Morshead meekly replied, "Yes sir."

"Hmm," said Churchill, "Now, let's unload these ships and get these weary men on board."

With that British soldiers and tanks began to flood down the ramps, moving quickly to the areas which had been made ready for them in the main square. When the entire brigade had disembarked, it would move into the area vacated by the brigade being evacuated. Erwin and her crew made sure that their men were in position and ready and waiting for the order to move out.

The disembarkation went faster than they had expected, and within six hours the entire force was on land. Churchill, Erwin and Morshead had watched over the process, ensuring that everything went smoothly.

With the force ready in the square, Erwin met with Morshead and Churchill, "The men are ready sir," she said, saluting, "Permission to move out?"

"Granted Brigadier," said Churchill, "And remember the plan."

Erwin nodded, and left.

Climbing onto her Stug Erwin muttered to Caesar, "I can see why his men called him 'Ming the Merciless'". Chuckles echoed from within the tank.

"At least we don't answer to him," said Caesar.

"Agreed," turning to the men Erwin shouted, "Infantry move out, you'll be taking up the defensive position, tanks and tank destroyers you will be staying out of sight. Remember to use your camoflauge netting, the entire plan revolves around Rommel not knowing that reinforcements are already here."

Erwin thought about the plan, the infantry were to take up the positions those who had been evacuated had vacated, her armour support was to remain hidden, hopefully Rommel wouldn't notice their presence. When the attack began the next morning, they would be a surprise.

An engine rumbled close to them, and a Bren Gun Carrier pulled alongside, standing in it was Major Howard, now Brigadier, he had been promoted following the Battle for France. He had been assigned to their division, and was chosen by Major-General Somerset to accompany the first brigade ashore. He had been placed under Erwin's command for the duration of the battle for Tobruk.

"What are our orders when we reach the front line sir?" he asked, shouting over to Erwin.

"If the reports are correct, there should be a line of trenches and bunkers, the men will take up positions in them, make sure that they hide their regimental symbols and badges, we want to keep Rommel in the dark. There should also be six anti-tank guns there, 6 pdrs if I remember correctly, I want those guns manned. You Brigadier Howard will be in charge of co-ordinating the fire from those guns."

"Yes sir. How do you want the guns to fire?"

Erwin thought, the 6 pdr was a good anti-tank weapon, but might not be able to penetrate the frontal armour of the German tanks, depending on what tanks came at them.

"Split the guns into three teams of two, each team will cover a third of the front. The guns of each team will only fire one at a team, the first gun will target the treads of the German tanks, immobilising them. Theoretically the tanks should also spin off course when the tread breaks, thereby exposing the weaker armour for the second gun to hit."

"Understood sir,"

#

The deployment of the force took around an hour, by the time dawn broke, all the troops were in position. The armour had been kept back from the line, hidden behind rocks, dunes, and ruined buildings. Each tank was also covered by a camouflage net. The only tank that wasn't was the Stug III of Hippo team, having been repainted in British colours, the tank was dug into a defilade, covered with a camouflage net, and disguised to look like an anti-tank gun from a distance.

As dawn broke, the sun rising over the distant dunes, Erwin watched the horizon through her field glasses. Refusing to be anywhere but the front line, Erwin watched carefully for any approaching enemies. Caesar, Saemonza, and Oryou stood next to her, each of them with field glasses of their own. The desert was silent, the only sound being the slight chatter of men and the rustle of wind over the dunes.

Brigadier Howard came up the them and saluted, "Sir,"

"Brigadier, what's the supply situation like?"

"We have 100 shells for the anti-tank guns, more are on the way from the town, but it'll be at least half an hour."

"And the infantry?"

"Full compliment sir, each man should have at least 50 rounds for their rifles, and we've got at least 1500 rounds for the Bren Guns."

"Good, make sure every man makes each shot count, especially the anti-tank guns."

Brigadier Howard was about to reply when a series of thuds could be heard in the distance.

"Take cover," he screamed at the men, all of them quickly diving into their foxholes, which were now deeper than they had been previously. Erwin, like Rommel, didn't underestimate the value of the spade.

Hippo team quickly scrambled back into their Stug to sit out the bombardment.

"So it begins," said Caesar


	9. Chapter 9

The girls knew their presence was going to change things, but Assam didn't think it would change things this much with their first deployment. It had been three weeks since the rest of the girls had left for North Africa, but she had been extremely busy. Working with MI6 and the code breakers at Bletchley park was a dream come true. But when one report came through she panicked. Losing her composure she raced through the hallways of the manor, heading for the room she knew Darjeeling would be in. Skidding to a stop outside the main hall, Assam opened the doors and stepped in, just as she thought she would, she found Darjeeling have morning tea with Alan Turing.

"Darjeeling-san, we have a problem."

Darjeeling and Alan Turing looked up, "What's the problem Assam-san?"

"A report just come through from the code breakers decoding enigma transmissions, the battleship Bismarck has been ordered to set sail, she's been ordered to head straight for the Atlantic. But she's been ordered straight through the Channel. From the transmission intercepted, it seems that Hitler thinks with our fleet so far away, the Bismarck can break into the Atlantic via the English Channel. He seems to be expecting the Luftwaffe to provide cover for her, to prevent her being sunk by the RAF."

For only the second time, in all the years Assam had known Darjeeling, she spilt a cup of tea. The cup fell out of her hand and cracked on the floor, much like it did during the practise match against Ooari.

Darjeeling leapt to her feet, and raced towards office of Stewart Menzies, Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service or SIS. Without knocking, Darjeeling burst into the room, startling the Chief, but before he could reprimand her she was across the room and picking up the telephone with a direct line to Buckingham Palace, while waiting to be answered she turned to Assam, "Get on the phone to Downing Street, let Anzu or someone know of this."

Instincts drilled into her led to her obeying her commander, and soon she was on the phone to Downing Street.

The phone was quickly answered by a calm voice she recognised as Yuzu Koyama of the Oorai student council, "Hello, Chief Menzies?"

"Not him Yuzu-san, it's Assam of St Gloriana."

"Oh, hello Assam-san. What seems to be the problem?"

"Contact the Admiralty, the German battleship Bismarck has set sail. She's due to sail through the English Channel within the next few days. And she has orders to fire on any British cities and towns while she does."

There was a gasp from the phone, "I can see why you've called. But we don't have many ships available to intercept her, most were sent with the fleet."

"There should be at least two battleships, and a selection of cruisers and destroyers. It doesn't really matter, she needs to be sunk."

"I agree, I'll get on to the Admiralty as soon as I can."

"Thank you Yuzu-san,"

Whilst Assam had been speaking to Yuzu, Darjeeling had got through to the palace and was speaking to someone there, whilst Alan Turing explained what was going on to Chief Menzies.

The first major ripple of their presence had been felt, Assam knew it wouldn't be the last.

#

'The Channel's extremely calm today' thought Vice-Admiral Lancelot Holland, standing on the bridge of the British battle cruiser HMS Hood. The Hood had recently been in for a refit and the deck armour had been reinforced. The refit that had been scheduled had been increased, and now the Admiral felt she was truly ready for combat. Just in time too it seemed, as the German battleship Bismarck had reportedly set sail. Vice Admiral had to commend Hitler for his timing, with most the Royal Navy making its way to North Africa it was a good time to attempt a break out. The navy had been scrambling for the past day to gather a force to stop her.

Now the force was ready, under his command was his flagship the HMS Hood, two battleships the Rodney and Prince of Wales, three cruisers, the Belfast, Norfolk and Suffolk, and six destroyers. It wasn't a large force, but hopefully it would be enough to end the Bismarck. The Bismarck had been sighted steaming towards Dover with the battle cruiser Prinz Eugen an hour ago. She was being shadowed by one of Britain's few submarines, whilst the observer corps, usually watching the skies, now watched the seas.

"Admiral," came a voice, causing him to turn from the windows, addressing him was the Captain of the Hood, Ralph Kerr.

"Yes Captain,"

"HMS Trident reports that the Bismarck will soon be in sight in around half an hour."

"Understood Captain, sound general quarters, get the men ready."

"Yes Admiral, sound general quarters,"

"General quarters aye sir,"

A whistle echoed through the ship, "Attention, general quarters all hand man your battle stations."

Similar announcements were made on every other ship and soon the fleet was a flurry of activity. Men raced to and fro across the deck of each ship, climbing into their guns and manning their posts. Soon the activity stopped, and the long wait began.

A trio of Spitfires broke through the clouds above them, quickly followed by another, the radio crackled, "Vice-Admiral Holland, this is Squadron Leader Kent of 303 squadron, we're here to provide air cover for the engagement. Other squadrons are on the way, including a squadron of hurricanes equipped with 500lb bombs."

The Admiral smiled, "Roger that Squadron Leader, any support you can provide will be appreciated."

"I'm glad we got here now though, cause here she comes."

Over the horizon came a great shadow, the imposing superstructure of the Bismarck making itself known to the British fleet.

#

"It seems the British are waiting for us Captain. Good, we can show them the true power of the German Navy. I will now address the crew."

The German Admiral that had been speaking picked up a microphone, switched it on, and began to speak, "Men and Officers of the Bismarck, our glorious fuhrer has given us orders to go out into the Atlantic and sink the British ships until they no longer dare to let them sail. It seems the British have caught onto our plans and have sent a force to stop us, but these are two of the most powerful ships in the German navy, stronger than anything the British have. And soon aircraft of the Luftwaffe will be here to assist, not that we will need it. Load the guns, target the ships, and you may fire when ready. For the Reich, for the Fuhrer."

#

"Admiral Holland, this is Kent, the ship to the rear is the Bismarck,"

"Understood Squadron Leader. All ships, open fire. Rodney, Prince of Wales, target the furthest ship, Captain Kerr, do the same."

#

Soon, the peaceful morning of the 30th of April 1941 was filled with the roar of cannon fire. The main guns of every vessel shooting its explosive compliment across the waves. The first volleys of each ship missed as the gunners used them to find the range to target. With that the battle began in earnest.

#

On the bridge of the Hood, the noise was deafening, the ship shook violently as the main turrets roared, her 15 inch guns spewing shells as fast as they could be loaded. In the distance the flashes of German guns could be seen as the Bismarck and Prinz Eugen responded.

An explosion was seen off to the left, "Admiral, Belfast reports main turret hit, forward turret out of action,"

Before he could respond there was another explosion, followed by an even bigger one, "Admiral, HMS Beagle was hit, the shot hit the magazine, she's gone. The Basilisk's moving in to pick up survivors."

"Shit, turn the ships to starboard, close with her."

The ship lurched to starboard, spinning to steam towards the Bismarck. The main turrets flared as they continued their bombardment. Rodney and Prince of Wales followed suit, followed by the cruisers and destroyers.

Water splashed over the ship as shells landed all around it, suddenly the Hood shook violently, fire bursting from in front of the forward turret, Holland was blown back by the shock wave, crashing into the helm.

Ears ringing he looked around, Captain Kerr was mouthing something at him, but he couldn't hear a word. Slowly the world came back to him, "Admiral, are you OK? Admiral?"

He blinked, raised his arm and used the helm to stand up, "I'm fine Captain, damage report."

"Forward turret's out Admiral, the shot hit the deck right above the forward magazine. Luckily it didn't pierce the deck otherwise we would have blown up."

"Thank god for the refit, that was the one thing they seemed to be focused on," said the Captain.

"Indeed Captain," Holland walked back to the windows which had been shattered by the explosion, glass cracked under his feet. The noise of the battle was even louder without the glass. At the front of the ship 'A' turret was a mangled mess, 'B' turret was still operational though, "Turn to port, bring the rear turrets within firing range. And get damage control to put those fires out."

Again the Hood lurched, this time to port, when they could the rear turrets opened fire on the German vessels, increasing the bombardment.

#

On the bridge of the Bismarck, Captain Lindemann watched through his binoculars as the British vessel identified as the Hood increased its fire, "Damn," he said quietly.

Admiral Lutjens, flag officer of the Bismarck heard him, "What was that Captain?"

"I said damn Admiral, we hit one of the British battleships near one of their main guns. I had hoped that it would have destroyed the ship."

"Don't bother with the should have beens. Focus on what is, now sink those ships. This is the Bismarck, the most powerful battleship afloat, show the British that."

"Understood Admiral, helm, turn the ship to starboard."

#

"She's turning to starboard Captain," said Admiral Holland, "Target amidships, and prepare for return fire."

A radio crackled, "Admiral, this is Kent, the hurricanes are here, do you have an preference for targets."

"Target the Prinz Eugen, leave the Bismarck for us."

"Understood Admiral,"

"Captain, contact the Belfast, Norfolk and Suffolk, tell them to target the Prinz Eugen after the hurricanes complete their bombing run."

"Yes Admiral,"

The main battery of the Hood flared once more, in the distance there was grand explosion from the rear of the Bismarck.

"Admiral, observers report rear turret out of action on the Bismarck."

There was another large explosion from the Prinz Eugen.

"Admiral, three of the Prinz Eugens turrets knocked out. Cruiser now beginning their bombardment."

#

On board the Bismarck Admiral Lutjens was getting agitated, "Where's the Luftwaffe, Hitler promised the Luftwaffe would be here."

The Bismarck shook violently as another turret was knocked out, the shock wave shattering the windows on the bridge, shards of glass hit the Admiral in the face. His body crumpled to the floor, blood dripping from where his eyes had been.

The bridge stopped in shock at seeing the admiral dead.

"Captain, message from Berlin,"

Lindemann sighed, taking his eyes of the Admiral, "Read it out,"

"From Adolf Hitler to Admiral Lutjens, due to an increase in British air presence in South East England support from the Luftwaffe has been withdrawn. We cannot risk any more losses to our air force in France. But your mission remains the same, I have every confidence that you will make it to the Atlantic and attack the British convoys. Message ends."

"Very well, turn the ship about, this battle is a loss."

"Cannot comply Captain, the rudder's been hit, we're stuck on this course."

Lindemann bowed his head, "Then this is the end of the Bismarck." The ship shook again, flames bursting high as the only remaining main turret was knocked out of action.

#

"Admiral, all main guns on the Bismarck are out of action. Belfast reports that Prinz Eugen is on fire and listing, but the last turret is still firing."

"All ships close in on your targets, sink them both."

Deep within the bowels of the ship, the engines groaned as they increased speed, the Hood speeding forwards. Water cascaded over the bow of the ship as she cut through the waves.

She was quickly followed by the rest of the force, the cruisers and destroyers outpacing her. As they closed, the secondary guns on both German vessels opened fire. Several of the destroyers took hits, bursting into flames, causing them to turn away. The main turret of the Prinz Eugen fired on last salvo, all the shells hit their target, the entire front end of the Prince of Wales bursting into flames. Smoke covered the ship, making it's fate impossible to determine. The British sailors held their breath, had the Prinz Eugen claimed a victim in it's final show of defiance?

No, from the smoke a shape slid forth, listing heavily and with fires burning everywhere, the Prince of Wales sailed valiantly onward. The forward turrets were a mangaled mess, but the ship remained afloat. Cheers went up across the British fleet and the rate of fire pouring onto the German vessels increased.

The shot on the Prince of Wales proved to truly be the Prinz Eugen's last act, under heavy fire from the three cruisers and two remaining destroyers, the Prinz Eugen was silenced, and slowly began to sink beneath the waves.

The Bismarck remained steady however, burning and unable to return fire, but still afloat.

"Order the Rodney to fire on her with all her guns," said Vice-Admiral Holland

Off to the port side of the Hood, the Nelson class battleship HMS Rodney turned slowly to port, revealing her full compliment of 3 triple 16in guns. The guns flared, shell roaring from the barrels.

The results of Rodney's broadside were devastating, the relatively close range from which the shots were fired enable every shell to hit.

The Bismarck disappeared in a cloud of smoke, flames covering the ship. One of the shells had evidently hit a magazine, the Bismarck was now covered in flames and listing heavily, but she was still afloat.

"Order the fleet to cease fire, we'll finish her off," said the Admiral

The Hood slowly closed with the Bismarck, turned to port, and revealed her starboard torpedo mount. 3 21in torpedoes shot from the Hood, screaming through the water, before crashing into the bow of the Bismarck. Plumes of water shot into the air, when they had cleared the bow of the Bismarck could be seen sinking beneath the waves.

#

Back in London, the members of the Ooari student council, Darjeeling and Assam had joined King George and his wife in the war room at the Admirality, all were desperate to hear news of the battle.

"Sir, report coming in," called a technician, "Message from Vice-Admiral Holland, at 2:47pm today, we engaged with the Bismarck and Prinz Eugen 10 miles outside Dover, at 5:54pm the Bismarck sank beneath the waves. Both German vessels have been destroyed."

A great cheer went up, everyone celebrating.

"Losses are reported to be relatively light, the HMS Beagle was sunk, with the loss of 120 crew, major damage to the destroyers Boudicea, Bulldog, Acasta and Anthony, major damage to the HMS Belfast, and the battleship Prince of Wales, minor damage to every other ship, with the forward turret of the Hood out of action. In all losses are estimated to be around 500 men."

King George looked at the girls, "Well, how was it?" he asked, referring to the losses compared to the original timeline.

"Better your majesty, much better," answered Darjeeling


	10. Chapter 10

The artillery bombardment lasted over an hour, shells landing almost every second. Dust and rock was flung everywhere by the explosions. From inside their Stug Hippo team could only hear muffled explosions, but even then it was loud. The respect the girls had for soldiers skyrocketed, they had only suffered an hour under intense bombardment and they were close to breaking. It was different to Senshado, in Senshado the likelihood of dying was very low given the extreme safety measures, but here there were none, and every shell was designed to kill.

Finally the bombardment sputtered away, but it didn't let the girls relax, they knew what was coming next, as did every soldier on the line. Knowing their roles, the men of the 7th Armoured Brigade took up their positions, rifles and machine guns aiming into the distance, the anti-tank guns were loaded, and the next shell readied.

In the distance the rumble of engines could be heard. In the distance shapes began to form, rumbling forward was the full strength of the Deustches Afrikakorps under the command of Erwin Rommel. Panzer advanced, followed by infantry.

"Are you ready for this girls?" asked Erwin quietly

"As ready as one can ever be when going to war," came the reply from Saemonza, a sentiment echoed by the others.

"Are you sure, because as soon as we open fire we are going to kill people, it'll affect you more than most Saemonza-san, you're firing the gun."

"I know, but there's one easy way to get over that, think about what would happen if the Nazis win. How many would die? How many would be raped?"

No one could counter that, so they focused on the advancing German forces.

"When I give the order to fire, you Saemonza-san, will hold your fire. We won't reveal ourselves until the German forces get closer.

The German forces advanced slowly, wary of the silence from the allied lines.

#

His rifle shook slightly in his hands, after 10 months of training he was finally at the front, and it terrified him. But he had faith in his commanders, having trained under them. The dust irritated his eyes but he refused to close them, focusing on the German forces. The artillery bombardment had been his first time under enemy fire, and his ears were still ringing from the noise.

The sergeant beside him was giving advice to the men, "Always choose your target wisely, make sure you hit and kill your target before choosing another. Focus on the heavy weapons such as the machine guns, focus on taking out the officers."

Turning his attention back to the enemy, Private Evans took in a deep breath, the hot air rough on his throat. He held that breath for a second before releasing it.

The radio behind them crackled, and the voice of their commander, Brigadier Erwin as she like to be called, spoke, "All units open fire,"

The order was followed by the crack of hundreds of rifles, the rat-a-tat-tat of Bren Guns and the booms of anti-tank guns.

Private Evans chose his target carefully, aiming for the commander of one of the approaching tanks who, despite the enemy fire, was still standing tall, Evans would make him regret that. He raised his aim slightly, accounting for the bullet drop, took a deep breathe, released it slowly, and gently squeezed the trigger.

The rifle cracked, jerking into his shoulder, and the commander fell forward, sprawled across his tank. Racking the bolt, Evans loaded another round, chose another target, this time a German carrying a heavy machine gun, breathed in deeply, led his target, accounted for the drop, and fired again. The German who had been running forward dropped to the floor, his gun flying away.

But the Germans weren't going to take the shots lying down, and soon return fire was racing towards them. The main guns of several panzers flared, and plumes of dust burst all around.

One of the tanks was hit and the tread came rolling off, the tank spinning to the side before it was hit by another shell which penetrated, the tank exploded, sending shrapnel flying everywhere, the turret shooting into the sky. A group of Germans that had been near the tank found themselves on the floor, several dead from shrapnel.

The tanks fired again, and this time they claimed some victims.

The foxhole next to him disappeared in a cloud of dust as a shell hit it directly. Five men were killed in the explosion, their bodies sent flying, some of them missing limbs.

Grimacing slightly at the grizzly fate of his comrades, Evans focused back on the German forces, firing again and again, not every shot hit, but many of them did.

#

Major Howard regarded the defence calmly, he had relayed Erwin's orders to the gunners, and they were following them to the letter. One gun would immobilise the tank, the other would knock it out.

German tanks fell to the calm, precise fire of the British gun crews, but they still approached.

Firing his sten gun in short bursts, Major Howard kept a close eye on how near the enemy were. Enemy fire landed all around, bullets hitting dirt and rock and sandbags.

The guns fired again, knocking out one tank and immobilising another. But the German tanks seem to have located them, the 75mm main gun of a Panzer IV flashed, and one of the anti-tank guns took a direct hit. The shell pierced the protective guard of the gun, vaporising the gunner, before exploding. The wreckage of the gun was sent flying forwards, whilst the rest of the crew were killed. The only survivor was the spotter, but he had been sent flying forwards and his arm was trapped beneath the barrel of the gun. His screams echoed across the desert.

"Medic," screamed Major Howard.

Two medics ran up to the gun, followed by two stretcher bearers.

The stretcher bearers stood next to the mangled gun, braced their knees, and lifted. The medics then pulled the soldier out, causing him to scream violently, before laying him on the stretcher. The stretcher bearers dropped the gun, picked and the stretcher, and ran off towards the aid station that had been set up just behind the lines. All this happened in less than a minute.

#

From the cupola of the Stug Erwin watched as the German forces approached, the sounds of combat didn't bother her, having done Senshado for over a year, what bothered her was the sounds you never heard in a war film. The movies never showed the dead or the dying, you never heard the screams as people lost limbs, or the prayers as peoples minds broke under the strain of war. Because of her plan, she could only watch as her men suffered under the fire of the German guns. She didn't know how many had died already, all she knew was that she didn't want any more to die. But when you're at war, there is little choice and few other options, in this case the only option was to follow through with the plan.

The German forces approached slowly, tanks grinding barbed wire beneath their treads. Soon the reached the tank ditches, and stopped. From behind engineers ran up to begin filling the ditches in. Some tank commanders pushed forward, driving into the ditch, before gunning their engine to climb the other side. This tactic worked for some, the tanks continuing towards her men, for others it was less successful as the engines broke down under the strain, or they were hit by the anti-tank guns as they exposed their underside whilst climbing out.

But not all of the tanks that crossed continued towards the allied line, some of them remained in position, angling themselves slightly. Thanks to the angling, the shells from the guns that tried to take advantage of the tanks' lack of movement only bounced off.

Erwin was puzzled for a moment before she realised what they were doing, "Shit," she cursed, "They're providing cover for the engineers. They know our guns can't penetrate at that angle, so the tanks are providing cover for the engineers to fill in the ditch, while the tanks still approaching keep our men busy."

Realisation grew on the faces of Hippo team, "And if they fill in the ditches then more tanks can cross, and with only five anti-tank guns left we'd be overrun," said Caesar.

"We need to knock those knock those tanks out, but in such a way that they expose the engineers."

Oryou spoke up, "The sand is quite soft isn't it, as in it crumbles and falls, similar to a liquid."

"Yes, it does," Erwin was wondering where she was going.

"Well if we can get the sand under the tanks to shift and move, we could make the tanks slide into the ditch. Sure it may give some tanks a way to cross, but it would expose the engineers to fire."

Erwin grinned, "Good idea Oryou-san. Caesar, load HE, Saemonza, target as long as you can as close as you can to each tank."

The breach soon clanged shut, "Loading complete," called Caesar.

There was a loud bang, followed by a lot of smoke as the 75mm of the Stug III sent it's payload rocketing towards the enemy.

A cloud of dust, smoke, and sand erupted next to one of the angled tanks, it was followed by groaning as the disturbed sand flowed to fill in the crater, displacing the tank which tried to remain in position, but soon slid down into the ditch. The exposed engineers were soon picked off by small arms fire.

The process was repeated, another tank sliding into the ditch.

After the third time the German commanders noticed what was happening, and moved their tanks away from the ditch. However, moving closer to the allied lines exposed the engineers to fire from the flanks.

But some engineers had already completed their tasks and a a result there were several crossings across the ditch. Whether the crossing was metal planks laid across the ditch, or the ditch having been filled in, it didn't matter, the remaining German tanks were closing on the British lines. In the distance, Erwin saw something that made her smile, whilst also feel trepidation.

"Caesar, load armour piercing, Saemonza, you may fire when ready."

"Loading complete,"

The tank rocked slightly as the main gun fired, the shell struck true, hitting one of the approaching panzers dead on it's frontal armour. If the shell had been of a smaller calibre,the armour could well have withstood it, but the 75mm of the Stug couldn't be stopped. It ripped through the armour, straight into the interior, and the explosive charge inside detonated.

The German tank ground to a halt, smoke pouring forth. No one climbed out, there was no one left intact to climb out. The explosion had killed everyone inside, turning two of them into mush whilst the others found themselves filled with shrapnel.

The Stug fired again, taking out another panzer, but in doing so it was targeted by return fire. Dust covered the tank as shells exploded all around, there were loud bangs as some shells struck the front of the tank. But thanks to the strong frontal armour of the Stug, each one bounced off.

Saemonza fired again, causing a panzer to explode, but it wasn't enough. The German tanks were getting to close to the allied lines.

Grabbing her radio Erwin contacted Brigadier Howard, "Sound the retreat Brigadier, pull back to the second line."

"Understood commander,"

#

"Alright then , we're pulling back. Battery, lay down smoke. Infantry, pull back to the second line under the cover of the smoke."

The battery of remaining anti tank guns fired a barrage of smoke shells, smoke blocking the sight of the German forces. Under cover of the smoke the infantry began to pull back.

#

Private Evans ran as fast as he could, running to the second line of foxholes, his face was covered with sweat and dirt, his arms ached from the weight of his gun. Sliding into the foxhole he aimed his rifle at the enemy, watching as the smoke slowly cleared.

German forces pushed onwards, reaching the first line of foxholes. The German infantry put them to good use, sliding into them and using them as cover. It would have seemed like a return to the tactics and combat of the Great War, had it not been for the imposing forms of the German panzers. The tanks rolled forward, crushing bodies and discarded weapons as they moved. There were even cases of wounded men being crushed by the treads, their screams would forever haunt his dreams.

Shots and screams echoed all around, beside him a soldier was hit, blood spraying into his face. He cringed at the sensation, but remained focused on his job, to stop the German advance. The rifle cracked against his shoulder as he brought down another German.

But despite the resistance they put up, Evans knew that they wouldn't be able to stop the German advance without armoured support.

The German tanks grew steadily closer. Evans could only watch as one turned it's gun towards him, staring down the barrel he thought back on his life, his first love, the birth of his daughter, the birth of his brother, his mother's love. All of it flashed through his mind.

When the bang echoed across the sand, he flinched and closed his eyes, expecting his life to be cut short.

When nothing happened, and cheers sprang up from soldiers around him, he opened his eyes.

The tank which had been aiming at him was nothing more than a smoking wreck, flames licking the metal.

A great rumble of engines caused him to turn around. What he saw brought a smile to his face, a wave of tanks was approaching from the city, guns flashing as they fired on the German panzers.

#

Erwin smiled, Rommel had taken the bait, he had seen a breakthrough and dispatched his reserves to exploit it. She had seen the approaching dust clouds, and had waited a few more minutes, before ordering the retreat to the second line. The retreat had emboldened the German forces, leading the reserves to increase their speed. Then Erwin activated the trap. She had called up the armoured reserves, which had come racing from their hiding spots towards the front line. The Victoria tank destroyers had taken up positions on hills, mounds and dunes, and had begun to pick of German tanks, using their range to their advantage.

The German advance halted, the infantry staring in shock as their tanks exploded all around.

#

Behind the German advance, Rommel watched in shock as his advance was halted, and hundreds of British tanks came racing towards his men. He had been baited and had fallen for a trap. But how hadn't he noticed these new troops, how had they remained hidden. His scouts had ensured him that there was no increase in British troops overnight, and the few planes he had available consistently told him that the allied fleet was still miles away from the city, and was still at full strength, and that all transports were full.

Someone had played him, he smiled, he had a challenger. The attack was broken, and so was the siege. He had thrown everything he could into that last attack, hoping to use the defenders exhaustion and lack of viable anti-tank weapons against them. But the tables had turned, and now he would have to retreat. Despite outnumbering this new force, he could see that they out gunned him massively.


	11. Chapter 11

"Saemonza, target, 11 o'clock high, in the rocks."

"Got it, firing."

The breech of the 75mm slammed backwards as Saemonza pulled the trigger, the armour piercing shell shooting forward, striking it's target dead on, easily penetrating the frontal armour of the Panzer III.

"Shit, shot incoming brace."

The tank rang with the impact as a 37mm shell struck the side, luckily it bounced.

"Oryou, rotate 45 degrees right, Saemonza, target at our current 2 o'clock low,"

The tank rumbled as it turned, the gun firing as soon as it had stopped. An explosion highlighted the kill.

"Keep advancing, don't let them dig in. We need to keep up the momentum."

The radio crackled, "Mother Hen calling Hippo, come in Hippo,"

Erwin picked up the receiver, "Mother Hen this is Hippo, go ahead."

"Hippo you are ordered to stop, and hold your current position, the advance will be continued by the 9th Australian Division, you are to remain defending the city. You are ordered to remain there until your division lands."

"What?" cried Erwin, "We've got them on the run, any delay will allow Rommel to gain an advantage."

"The orders stand, Lieutenant-General Morshead has decided that he will chase the Germans, your Brigade is ordered to hold position."

Erwin desperately wanted to object, she knew that by the time the Australians launched their attack, Rommel would be ready. But she alson knew that to defy the orders of a superior officer would cause too many problems, and that Churchill's influence over the military only went so far, "Shit, Hippo to all members of the 7th Tank Brigade, halt, I repeat, halt. Let them go, we are ordered back to the city."

Slowly the advance stopped, each British tank coming to a rest, some guns still picking off retreating German units. Following infantry took up defensive positions in whatever cover they could find. Erwin climbed out of her tank, "Goddammit," she screamed, picking a rock across the floor. In the distance, one by one, the German forces disappeared.

A Bren Gun Carrier came to a stop nearby, Major Howard climbing out, "Why have we stopped sir?" he asked politely, aware of Erwin's current anger.

"Bloody Morshead," the past year had caused many of the girls to adopt many British terms and accents, "He's ordered the advance to stop, we are ordered to return to Tobruk and defend the city whilst reinforcements disembark."

"And you are worried that the delay will give Rommel time to prepare defences," Major Howard finished.

"I know Rommel Major, I know exactly what'll happen when Morshead finally attacks. He'll run straight into a German defensive line, what type I'm not sure, it could be a pre-made, well defended line, or it could be a hastily made defensive line, but either way, the German forces will be dug in. Now maybe Morshead will overcome the defences, but how many will die before that, and I know that if he attacks without extensive support, the 9th Australian Division will be crushed by Rommel's Panzer reserves."

"What will you say to the General?"

"Oh, exactly that, but because he doesn't like me, I know he won't listen."

#

The conversation went exactly as Erwin had predicted.

After returning to the city, glad to see that the fleet had returned, Erwin had headed straight for the town hall, Morshead's headquarters, she had stormed into the command room where Morshead was briefing his commanders about the upcoming advance. She had screamed and ranted warnings to Morshead, but each one was dismissed by the Australian for reasons, some of which made sense, others which were flimsy, and some which were outright stupid, but by the end of the conversation, Erwin knew that he wouldn't listen. Morshead had threatened to have Erwin court martialed, at which point Erwin gave up and stormed from the room.

Erwin could only watch as the Australian forces moved out into the desert, to the staging area from which Morshead would launch the attack the following morning, as the day was getting late, the sun beginning to set. She knew the night would get cold, as it usually did in the desert, but she knew that the cold wouldn't affect the German preparations, she had read Rommels book and knew he would pick up a shovel and dig himself.

Columns of men passed her by, many of them cheering when they saw her, they had been told who was responsible for breaking Rommel's attack. The day before these men had been weary and drained, on their last legs, but now it seemed that new life had been breathed into them, for they walked onward singing, the song Waltzing Mathilda drifting across the sands.

Seeing the high spirits of the Australian forces, Erwin came to a decision, Morshead could go to hell, she wouldn't let his men be slaughtered for his pride. She turned and strode purposefully away, soon coming across her friends, the rest of Hippo team were taking the opportunity to eat and drink, the body of the Stug was littered with Tupperware, which hadn't been invented yet, but had been in their Stug when they came back from their time.

"Erwin-san," cried Caesar, "Come, eat, you look wound up, take some time to relax."

Erwin smiled sadly, "I'm sorry my friends, but I don't have time to relax, Morshead is leading his men to their deaths, and I wish to do something about it. I'm not asking you to follow me..."

Her speech didn't get any further before she was interrupted by Oryou, "You don't need to ask us to follow you commander, we are your friends, we will follow you anywhere."

She smiled, "Thank you,"

#

The Stug raced through the city towards the town hall, "Major Howard," Erwin cried upon arrival, grabbing the aforementioned Major's attention, who came to a salute, "Organise the men into a perimeter around the city, make sure they are dug in. You are to command the Brigade until my return."

"Sir?" asked the Major puzzled

"Morshead is leading his men to their deaths, I will not allow that," She looked around the square, taking note of the two Victoria tank destroyers present, "You two," she called at the commanders, who came to attention, "Follow me."

The commanders nodded, looking slightly puzzled, but still obeying the orders.

Major Howard spoke up, "Sir! What are you doing?"

"I'm going to shadow Morshead's forces, and intervene when Rommel inevitably deploys his reserves to defeat the Australian attack. Rommel may have attacked with a large force in an attempt to break the city, but he would have kept some tanks in reserve in the event his attack failed, he isn't stupid."

Major Howard knew better than to object to his commander, he had spent a year with the girls and knew that each one of them was, whilst extremely talented, exceedingly stubborn, "Understood sir, How will I explain your absence to Major-General Somerset when he arrives?"

"Tell him the truth, Miho-san and the others will understand."

"Yes sir, good luck."

"Thank you Major," Erwin dropped into the Stug and raced away, quickly followed by the two Victoria's.

#

The outlying defences were roughly 7 miles from the centre of Tobruk, the Germans had been driven another 10 miles back after their failed attack, Erwin knew that Rommel would have retreated at least 15 miles before digging in, the delay Morshead insisted on before his attack would mean that by the time the attack occurred, the German forces would be dug in and that his men would be exhausted after marching at least 15 miles the previous day.

Thanks to the speed of her tank, Erwin caught up to the Australian forces quite quickly, they were only 5 miles outside the city, and had another 10 miles to march before they reached the staging area. The sun was low in the sky now, bathing the desert in a red light. It was difficult to see, especially in the rocky areas that Erwin was using to shadow the advancing forces. Moving slowly and cautiously, she was careful to ensure that Morshead remained ignorant of her presence.

The march took another three hours, by the time they arrived it was gone eleven at night. The advance was scheduled to continue at 7am.

Erwin had ordered a stop on a mound half a mile behind the Australian forces, she spent an hour watching the Australian's use the rest time wisely, before following suit and taking a nap.

#

She was woken the next morning at 06:00 by her phone, it had taken a while, but at some point during the year they were able to develop a plug point that their phone chargers worked with. Their phones couldn't be used for communications, but they still worked as cameras or clocks. One had been given to Alan Turing by Darjeeling, to let him examine it.

She had slept as peacefully as she could in the cramped space of the Stug with three other people. Within ten minutes, her small force of three tanks was awake and ready. Because of Morhead's orders and ignorance, they could only watch as the Australian forces began their march towards an ambush that Erwin knew was most likely waiting for them.

At 07:00 the march began. From their positions, the Australians formed up into a column of men and trucks and tanks, and advanced along the road into the deserts of North Africa. Erwin continued shadowing the force, keeping a close eye on the surrounding dunes.

Finally, half an hour into the advance, the ambush Erwin had been expecting began.

The convoy was thrown into disarray as the lead truck was hit, and burst into flames, soon afterwards the rear truck was hit, it too bursting into flames.

The convoy ground to a halt, men scattering from the road, diving to the floor. None of them had seen where they attack had come from, but they were on guard for the next shot. It came not too long after, hitting one of the escorting Matilda II's right on the front armour. Now most German shots of the time would have bounced, the Matilda's armour easily deflecting the shot. But to the shock of everyone nearby, the round went straight through the armour, and the tank exploded, it's turret flying into the air. Five men had been taking cover behind the tank, each one was killed by the explosion, their bodies flying away.

From his command car, Morshead watched the burning wreck in horror, he knew of only one type of gun the Germans had that could destroy a Matilda from the range and angle, "Find that 88," he screamed, his composure cracking.

Slowly the Australian infantry began to move forward, keeping low to the ground.

The 88 fired again, taking out another Matilda.

"Find that gun," cried Morshead again

In the cupola of the Stug, Erwin scanned the Horizon, "Where the hell is that gun?" she asked no one in particular, "The flak 8i8 has a large profile so should be easier to see than most German guns."

She was interrupted by another shot, luckily she saw the flash of the gun and quickly zoomed in on it.

"Oh Jesus," she said in a small voice.

Protruding from between two rocks she could see the barrel of an 88mm gun, but the profile was all wrong.

The 88mm of 1941 should be a large, stationary weapon, with a long, smooth barrel.

What Erwin saw, was low down, no shield that the flak 88 would have to protect it's crew, but most importantly, had a muzzle brake on the end of the barrel.

"What is it Erwin-san?" asked Oryou, the only one unable to search for the 88.

"We've changed things, changer things a lot."

Caesar picked up a pair of binoculars and looked where Erwin was looking, "Oh gods."

"What is it?" Oryou asked again

#

"Loading complete," came a voice.

Aiming through the sight, the gunner chose another target, this time a British tank obscured slightly behind a rock. Squeezing the trigger slightly, the gunner was rewarded with a loud bang, and the breech rocketing backwards, the shell casing slamming into the rear of the turret before clanging to the floor. Through the sights, he watched as the British tank burst into flames.

"Load high explosive," he said calmly, aiming at a crater where he could faintly see British troops poking their heads up.

He heard the expected, 'Loading complete', squeezed the trigger, and watched as the crater disappeared in a cloud of dust which parted to reveal a larger crater and the bodies of several British soldiers.

The gunner chose another target, this time he went to cut the head off the snake, and targeted the command car, in which he could see the British General directing his troops. Rolling his eyes at the Generals overconfidence or arrogance or whatever it was, he fired.

#

"Move forward, find that gun," screamed Morshead, panicking at the disarray his forces were in. He hadn't expected an ambush, especially not from an 88. He had assumed that the Jap girl had just been over estimating the enemy when she warned him. Evidently she was not. He had thought the Germans broken and on the run, "Find the gun before they can pull back."

He wasn't able to give any more orders, as his car vanished in a cloud of smoke and flame, the smoke cleared to reveal a mangled wreck.

The loss of their General through the Australians into even more disarray, many of them turning to run.

#

"Oh shit," murmured Erwin, she had seen where the last shot had gone, and had only been able to watch as Morshead died.

"Erwin," shouted Oryou, "What is it?" She was so agitated she forgot to use the honourific.

"Tiger, it's a goddamn Tiger."

"What? Haven't you constantly said that if Rommel had had Tiger tanks early on in the North Africa campaign he may well have broken through the British defences?" asked Oryou.

"Yes I have, and I stand by that, look what one Tiger has done to the Australian force."

"But didn't you also say that the Tiger was only developed and produced in 1942, as in next year."

"Yes, I did, something must have happened to change that.

Caesar spoke up, "The Germans may have found out about our new tank designs and plans, and sped up their development of tanks to counter it."

"That's not good, if German tank development has sped up then that means things like the King Tiger and even the Maus will be developed earlier. Even the Tiger 1 may change things, especially with Operation Barbarossa coming up soon."

"Oh gods," gasped Erwin, "The German advance would face fewer problems with Tigers in their initial attack. The advance was delayed quite often by the heavier, newer soviet tanks such as the T-34 and KV's 1 & 2 because the German guns couldn't kill them. There was even a battle where a single KV tank, either 1 or 2, accounts vary, held up the entire German 6th Panzer Division for an entire day. A single Tiger tank would probable prevent that delay, and similar ones like it."

"So what you're saying is that the Tiger tank being deployed earlier may change the outcome of the war of the Eastern Front?" asked Saemonza

"It may well do, it may well do. Hitler never had a chance of beating both the Soviet Union and America, but if the Soviets were knocked out, then he would have access to their industry and population. And if he was to treat the local populace better than the communists, then they may well fight for him, especially if he set up a collaborationist government as he did in France. A Nazi Germany with Soviet resources, industry and manpower would be a massive danger."

Erwin shook her head, "Enough speculation, what we know is that there's a Tiger roughly two thousand metres ahead of us that is destroying the 9th Australian Division, we need to destroy it."

"Yes commander," said Hippo team.

"Caesar-san, load high explosive, we need to block the aim of that tank. Our gun can't kill it, not at this range. We'll block it's sight and move forward, the Victoria's can kill it from here, providing they use composite rigid shells," she picked up the radio receiver, "Turtle 1, turtle 2 come in."

"Roger Hippo, this is turtle 1,"

"Roger that Hippo, turtle 2 here,"

"Turtles, load APCR shells, target the rocks where we fire, we're going to advance and order the Australians to retreat, we need you to knock out the enemy tank. It's of a new design, but you should recognise it. You'll know where it's weak spots are, so be ready."

"Understood commander," came the replies.

"Saemonza, fire high explosive."

#

The gunner rotated the turret, calmly choosing another target, this time one of the ammo trucks to the rear of the convoy, before he could fire however, a cloud of dust and sand burst up in front of the tank, and the tank rocked slightly.

"They've found us, driver, take us out, nothing they have should be a threat to us."

The engine roared, and the tank slowly reversed, before turning slightly and rolling forward.

"We'll do as much damage as we can before moving back to meet up with the General."

Aiming through the sights, the gunner began to sing, quickly followed by the crew, "Ob's sturm oder schniet, Ob die Sonne uns lacht,"

#

The Australian forces could only watch in horror as a monstrous vehicle emerged from the cloud of dust, it rumbled slowly towards them.

"What the hell is that?" cried a thousand voices at once.

"It doesn't matter what it is private," said a sergeant, "Just that it dies, fire at it."

Still terrified, the Australian soldiers opened fire with everything they had, but every bullet bounced off.

One of the remaining Matilda's fired it's two pounder, aiming for the lower galcis plate, usually a weak point on tanks, but the round simply bounced off.

#

Inside the tank the driver laughed, "That won't do anything, the gun is a pea shooter as the Americans say."

The gunner chuckled, before responding to the Matilda's challenge, firing the powerful 88mm main gun. The Matilda burst into flames.

However, they were too distracted by the Australian's to take note of the real threat that was quickly approaching.

#

"Oh gods,"

"It'll slaughter them,"

"I'll fire, draw it's attention,"

"You do that Saemonza-san, Oryou-san, be ready to evade."

"Caesar-san, what did you load?"

"High explosive Saemonza-san,"

Taking the type of shell into account, Saemonza aimed for the track of the Tiger, knowing that German tanks had weaknesses with their mobility and tracks.

"Firing,"

The shell shot from the barrel, the breech slamming back, due to the fact that they were moving, the shell didn't hit it's target. But it landed close enough to draw the attention of the Tiger.

Oryou gunned the engine, moving quickly towards the Tiger, but ready for evasive action.

#

The tank rocked, "Scheiße, What was that?" asked the gunner

The commander looked from his view sights around the cupola, "It definitely wasn't a Matilda, we can see them and none of the fired," he looked further away, behind the enemy forces, "What the hell? That's one of ours."

"What is it commander?"

"A Stug, one of our Stug's is coming towards us from behind the enemy forces,"

"What's a Stug doing behind enemy lines?"

"I don't know, oh Scheiße, it's painted in British colours, it's an enemy. Shoot it, a Matilda we can take, but I don't want to test our armour against one of our own guns. Destroy it."

The gunner turned the turret to face the new threat, taking the opportunity to gun down enemy forces with the coaxial MG34. Dozens fell before he returned to the main gun.

#

"Shit, he's got us, Oryou, evade."

The Stug raced left, rocking violently at the sudden change of direction, it skidded slightly before continuing on.

#

The gunner had to adjust his aim after the driver's violent manoeuvre.

"Firing,"

#

There was an extremely loud bang, and the Stug echoed with it.

Erwin hit her head on the side of the cupola, blood began to drip down her head.

She watched, eyes blurry, as Oryou turned the Stug violently to the right. Unable to brace herself she hit her head on the other side of the tank.

Taking the slight window of opportunity, Saemonza fired at the Tiger during the split second it was in sight, but the shot went violently wild, plowing into the sand 200m behind the Tiger.

#

The gunner cursed, he was sure the shot would have killed the tank, but the driver had moved slightly at the last second, and the shot had bounced. It was extremely unlucky as, from this range, a direct hit from his gun would easily kill the tank, the gun of the enemy tank would be able to kill them from this range as well, but the was a lower chance, and the crew didn't seem to want to bet on it.

Taking careful aim, he fired again.

#

The Stug slid to a halt, smoke filling the interior, flames began to lick around the engine.

Erwin's eyes opend slowly, her body was numb, in front of her she could see Saemonza's panicked face, wondering why she was so panicked, Erwin tried to speak, but all that came out was a gurgle, and liquid dripped from her mouth. She went to lift her arm, too find she couldn't.

Caesar's face popped up next to Saemonza, followed by Oryou, there was blood over their faces but they looked fine. But both of them were as panicked as Saemonza.

Slowly the world came back to Erwin, and she could hear what her friends were saying, "Erwin-san, can you hear me, stay with us Erwin-san."

"Please Erwin-san, stay with us, don't go to sleep."

Erwin was puzzled at the second statement, sleep sounded like such a good idea, and she began to close her eyes.

"No Erwin-san, don't sleep, please don't go to sleep."

"ERWINNNN," was the last thing she heard as sleep claimed her


	12. Chapter 12

A cacophony of noise woke her up, talking, crying, the clack of heels, low murmuring voices. As she slowly came to, intense pain flared up in her back, causing her to cry out.

A familiar voice spoke up, "Easy Erwin-san, easy. Don't stress yourself." The voice was quiet, and had a subtle comforting tone.

She opened her eyes, before closing the tightly at the bright light.

"Easy, take your time. Let yourself wake up first, let yourself adjust."

Following the familiar stranger's advice she took a deep breath, flinching at the pain in her chest, releasing the breath, she opened her eyes, blinking at the light.

A face came into focus above her, the short red hair and comforting brown eyes giving away her identity, "Miho-san?" she croaked, her throat raw.

The face smiled, "It's good to see you awake, you gave us all a scare."

"What happened?" asked Erwin, voice still cracking.

Miho's comforting face faltered slightly, "How much do you remember?"

Erwin thought back, "We were following Morshead, I was certain he was running into a trap. I was right, he was ambushed," suddenly she looked panicked, "It was a Tiger Miho, a Tiger."

Miho raised her hands comfortingly, laying them gently on Erwin's shoulders to prevent her from sitting up, "I know Erwin-san, I know. Carry on, what do you remember?"

"I remember watching the ambush, I remember watching a Morshead died," she looked close to tears, "I remember watching a people were gunned down. I didn't do anything, I just watched."

"You did do something Erwin," Miho said comfortingly, "Do you remember?"

Erwin's face grew thoughtful, "Yes, vaguely, we moved towards the Tiger, I told Oryou to draw it's attention away from the infantry, and the Victoria's were to knock it out. We moved towards it, moving quickly and evasively, then there was a loud bang and we stopped, I remember fire, and smoke."

Erwin grew panicked, "What happened Miho-san, Caesar, Saemonza, Oryou, what happened to them, where are they, what happened to me?"

Miho tried desperately to calm Erwin down, but she was growing increasingly agitated.

"Are they dead Miho? Are my friends dead?"

Before Miho could answer the doors opened with a bang, Erwin could only sigh in relief as her three friends walked in, all unharmed. Seeing her friends she burst into tears, reaching out for them.

Leaving her to her friends, Miho left the room.

Erwin didn't notice, desperately grasping at her friends, tears streaming down her face. Patiently, each of her friends allowed her to grab them, knowing that she was checking they were real. Seeing the distress their friend was in, each girl started to cry as well. Soon it had devolved into a massive group hug, with each girl crying in relief, they had seen combat, and lived.

When the tears had faded away, Erwin gathered the courage to speak, "What happened?" she asked quietly.

The three girls exchanged looks, "Well..." began Caesar

_Flashback_

_The tank was full of smoke, farthest from the point of contact, Oryou was the most stable. Turning around, she took in her friends, Caesar was OK, having been bending down to pick up a shell. She had hit her head but nothing major. Saemonza was OK too, having been leaning forward, looking out of the gun sight. When she saw Erwin however, she had screamed, "Erwin!"_

_Her scream had drawn the attention of her friends, and they two screamed upon seeing Erwin. She was splayed over the gun breech, blood dripping from her head. What raised the most concern were the slowing growing dark patches on the back of her uniform. The girls scrambled towards their friend, it was difficult in the cramped space of the tank, but they were determined._

_They could see Erwin begin to stir._

_Saemonza was nearest, "Erwin-san, can you hear me, stay with us Erwin-san."_

_Caesar reached her next, "Please Erwin-san, stay with us, don't go to sleep."_

_They could see Erwin begin to close her eyes._

_"No Erwin-san," said Caesar, "Don't sleep, please don't go to sleep."_

_"ERWINNN," screamed Oryou._

_But it was no use, they could only watch in horror as Erwin's eyes closed and she went to sleep._

_"We need to get her to a hospital, or get a medic," said Oryou panicking._

_"How, we're in the middle of a battlefield and there's a Tiger tank aiming straight at us, and oh yes, the tank is on fire." cried Caesar, breaking down at seeing one of her oldest friends in such a condition. _

_"The worst thing is, we're a sitting duck, they could take us out at any time." said Saemonza._

_Any further conversation was interrupted by a loud explosion, causing all the girls to flinch, assuming that the Tiger had fired again._

_When nothing happened, the girls looked up, light flooded into the tank, and smoke flooded out, as the commanders hatch was opened._

_"G-day, who's in there?" came a heavily accented Australian voice._

_"Help us please, get a medic," croaked Oryou, voice hoarse from the smoke._

_The smoke cleared, allowing the man to see into the tank, "Oh gawd strewth," he said, as her saw the crew, "Medic," he cried, turning away from the tank, "Medic."_

_He climbed down into the tank, "Which of you girls needs help the most?" he asked calmly_

_"Our commander, Riko," said Oryou, using Erwin's real name, "She's bleeding heavily, it looks bad."_

_"I'll do what I can, but you girls should get out, the tank looks like it's going to blow soon."_

_Another body appeared at the top of the hatch, "Captain, who needs help?"_

_"The commander, she's bleeding heavily."_

_"Lift her up, as much as I don't want to move her, the tank is going to blow, so it's safer to move her."_

_The captain gently picked Erwin's unconscious form up, but despite his gentleness she still cried out, even being unconscious. He lifted her up out of the tank, and into the hands of the medic._

_With their commander out, the rest of Hippo team, quickly clambered from the nearest hatch, all falling into the sand. The heat was sweltering but they thought nothing of it, their focus was on Erwin who had been moved into the shade by one of the remaining trucks. As they went to go towards her, a burning wreck caught their eye._

_The burning wreck of the ambushing Tiger was 50 metres away from their Stug, which was being hosed down with one of the fire extinguishers from a Matilda. It's main turret hatch was open and smoke was billowing out. There was a large hole in the centre of the frontal armour, it was obvious that a shell had punched straight through the tank, the driver was obviously dead, given the red tint around the hole, but the remaining crew, which seemed to be the gunner, loader and commander, were being held off to the side. The girls could see a look of shock and horror on the blood smeared faces of the Tiger crew._

_Hippo team glared at the crew, angry at them for hurting their friend, before they ignored them and focused on Erwin._

_"How's she doing doc?" asked the Captain._

_"She's extremely lucky from what I can tell. Something seems to have stopped the shell from splintering into too many parts, normally a penetrating shot like that would have scattered shrapnel all across the tank, but it seems that something made sure the shell didn't split into too many parts. And thankfully, none of those pieces of shrapnel hit anything vital. She'll live, but I would like to get her to a hospital as soon as possible to make that a certainty._

_End of Flashback_

"What happened then?" asked Erwin

"Thankfully, at that exact moment, reinforcements arrived. It seemed that upon finding out where you had gone from Major Howard, Miho-san was determined to come to your assistance. She had met the two Victoria's just as the Tiger fired the second time and hit us, the shot which almost killed you," said Caesar

Erwin winced at the reminder of how close she had been to death.

Oryou continued the story, "The shot which destroyed the Tiger had come from Leopon team, who had come along with Miho-san. It's lucky, they saved our lives, the Tiger was positioned fire again After destroying the Tiger, Miho-san had sent a jeep down to us as soon as she had seen you being lifted from the tank. When she finally reached us she was panicking, and I mean really panicking, it was like seeing Miho-san as she was when she first arrived at our school. She was so panicky that it was almost impossible to calm her down, what happened to calm her down was quite funny."

Erwin was puzzled, "What did happen?"

"Let's just say that we owe you five shillings each." pouted Caesar

She took a minute to think, why would they owe her five shillings, then comprehension dawned, "You mean ..."

"Yep, right on the lips, and right in the middle of everyone. Miho-san's face was hilarious. It was even funnier when Yukari blushed bright red and ran off to hide in the Panzer IV."

Erwin chuckled, "She finally did it. It's about time."

"It got funnier when Hana-san smiled smugly and held her hand out to Saori-san and Mako-san."

#

After leaving Erwin with her friends, Miho had headed for her quarters, intending to rest peacefully for the first time in a week. But that went out of the window when she saw Yukari waiting outside her room, Yukari was quite obviously nervous, with her hands fidgeting and her practically hopping from one foot to another. Miho knew she had been avoiding Yukari, the kiss had thrown her off her game, it wasn't that she didn't like Yukari, it's just that she never thought about feelings like that, even after arriving at Ooari. With her childhood defined by pleasing her mother, and her first year at Ooari focused on the Senshado league, and then the match against the University team, and then the Chinese problem, and then being in WW2, she had never thought about things like that before. But she didn't want to ruin her friendship with Yukari, a friendship she valued as much as, if not more than, her friendship with Hana and Saori. To that end, she had avoided Yukari, and had gotten away with it since Erwin was in hospital.

But it seemed that Yukari's patientce had run out.

"N-Nishizumi-dono?" stuttered Yukari, her nerves getting the better of her.

Miho took a deep breath, "We need to talk Yukari-san, come in." She opened her door and walked in, Yukari close behind.

As the door closed, Miho sat on her bed, Yukari stood near the door, glancing around the room. It was bare, as to be expected, but there were a few signs of personality, mainly the Boko bear on the bed.

Yukari took frequent glances around the room, avoiding Miho's eyes.

"Sit down Yukari-san, please."

Yukari sat on the bed, as far away from Miho as possible, "I'm sorry Nishizumi-dono, I shouldn't have done it, please don't be too mad at me."

"I'm not mad Yukari-san, truly."

"But you avoided me, for a week, I know Erwin-san has been in hospital, but you spoke to Saori-san and Hana-san."

Miho flinched, "I know Yukari-san, I know. But I don't know how to deal with things like this. I've spent my entire life focused on one thing, nothing else ever came to mind. My entire life has revolved around Senshado, so to have you suddenly kiss me threw me off. I needed time to think, to contemplate."

Yukari remained silent, understanding Miho's point, having met her mother after the university match. Even after beating one of the best Senshado teams in Japan, Nishizumi-dono seemed unable to show empathy, and had immediately criticised many of Miho's actions. Miho had remained silent throughout, but Yukari had seen the tears in her eyes. She had even seen Maho Nishizumi lose composure for a second as she looked angrily at her mother.

"Feelings have always come second to me, it's what caused problems remember, in the final."

Yukari interrupted Miho, taking the initiative, "I know that Nishizumi-dono, and that's part of the reason I like you, it's why I gave you time and space, but please, give it a chance."

"But I don't know how I feel Yukari-san, I like you but I don't know if I can like someone like that."

Yukari interrupted Miho again, this time with another kiss, this one longer than the one in the desert, moving away Yukari spoke, "How did that feel Miho?"

Miho's mind had gone blank for a second, so her answer was delayed, but when it did come, Yukari almost jumped for joy, "Good, it felt good, it felt right," She smiled, "It felt right, more right than anything else in my life."

Yukari cried out in jubilation, making Miho smile happily, seeing Yukari so happy made her feel happy, it also felt right, just like the kiss.

"And Yukari-san, no more Nishizumi-dono, it's Miho, just Miho."

"Of course Nishizum... I mean Miho-san."

The smiles on each of their faces was blinding.

#

The atmosphere in the command room was tense, the last week had been harrowing for the girls, with one of their number in hospital with serious but thankfully non-fatal wounds, none of them had been able to truly relax. Each girl tried, doing something that usually made them feel relaxed, whether it be working on the tanks, sleepy, eating, sunbathing on the beach or planning the military campaign.

With Erwin finally awake, much of the tension had drained away, but each of the girls knew that the delay would have allowed Rommel to dig in and call up more reserves, the appearance of a Tiger tanks also worried them.

Standing at the head of the table was Major-General Somerset who, since the unfortunate demise of Lieutenant-General Morshead, had taken command of the Tobruk defence forces, he had designated Maho Nishizumi as his second in command for the moment.

Stood around the table were the rest of the Senshado girls who had come with him to North Africa, barring the members of Hippo team who were still with Erwin in the hospital.

"From what our scout planes have seen, the Germans retreated another 20 miles when they realised that we weren't chasing them. They've spent the past week digging in, a defensive line has been formed, and from what we can see in the pictures, Rommel seems to have access to another 14 Tiger tanks. I'm sure the presence of a Tiger tank in this time and place surprises all of us, but we knew that just by our being here things would change," briefed Maho

"Yes, but not like this. The Tiger tank was a monstrosity that took a while to develop. To encounter one this early means that things are happening earlier," said Yukari, her inner tank geek fighting with her logical side. The tank geek loved the idea of Tigers being developed earlier, the logical side of her knew that if the Tiger was developed earlier then the German tanks that were only theoretical or prototypes when Germany fell may well become a reality.

Miho nodded, "Yukari-san is right Onee-chan, think about what would happen if the Maus project was completed earlier, and was actually deployed in battle. And the speeding up of the tank project, plus how utterly outclassed the Luftwaffe was during the Battle of Britain, may well lead Hitler to speed up the development of other projects, such as the jet engine or the rockets. We need to defeat Rommel as quickly as possible, and then find a way of beating Hitler in mainland Europe."

"Now I may not be a history or tank fanatic like many of us, but isn't the biggest problem at the moment the upcoming Operation Barbarossa?"

The person who spoke was a surprise to all the girls, none of them expected Kay to be the one to bring up something like that.

"Don't look at me like that, even I know that Operation Barbarossa was Hitler's biggest mistake, but it may not be if things are proceeding at this speed."

"Umm, forgive me for intruding, but what is Operation Barbarossa?" asked Major-General Somerset.

Remembering that he was the only one present who was ignorant about the future, Kay educated him, "Operation Barbarossa is, if the timeline proceeds as it should, Hitler's plan to invade and defeat the Soviet Union. In the time we come from this proved to be a big mistake, but with the changes that seem to have occurred, then it may proceed entirely differently."

"Kay is right," said a voice from the door, the girls looked around as Erwin walked in, supported by Caesar and Saemonza, with Oryou walking behind to endure they didn't fall, "A German advance with Tiger tanks would proceed much more efficiently than it did in our history. One of the biggest problems the Germans faced was the more powerful Soviet tanks, the Tiger was deployed to defeat these tanks. If the Tiger is used from the beginning, we may well see a faster Soviet collapse, Moscow might even fall. If the Germans advance faster then the attack won't be delayed by poor weather, or at least not until it's too late."

"Miss Matsumoto, are you well enough to be here?" asked Somerset.

"Whether I am or not doesn't matter, Rommel needs to be beaten, and the Germans need to be sent from North Africa, I know this would allow Hitler to focus on attacking eastwards, but we need to be ready to help the Soviets when the time comes, and we can't do that if we're stuck in North Africa."

"What do you recommend then Miss Matsumoto? You know Rommel, how do we beat him quickly?"

Erwin smiled widely.

#

They trundled across the desert, "Zepplin, this is Lion 1, come in Zepplin,"

"Lion 1 this is Zepplin, go ahead,"

"Zepplin, we are 2 miles from the defensive line, ready strikes 1 & 2."

"Roger Lion, Strikes 1 & 2 ready, good luck,"

Erika Itsumi put the radio down, she had doubts about this plan, it seemed insane, to send an entire Brigade straight into the German lines and hope they broke through. It seemed apt given the name of most of the tanks under her command. She knew why they were being used, but that didn't mean she liked it.

Looking from her cupola, Erika looked at the ranks of Kitchener tanks that were trundling along with her. Her orders were to smash into the German line, using her tanks' nigh invulnerability to protect the following troops from German fire. They were being used given that they were designed specifically to bounce shots from German 88mm. The bottom of the Kitchener tanks was also heavily reinforced to protect against land mines. In her Brigade, the tank with the weakest armour happened to be her King Tiger, which still had a good 150mm of armour at a 40 degree angle. Theoretically, none of her tanks could be destroyed by any gun the Germans had at the moment, not even the 88mm.

Her reservations about the attack were dampened by that fact, combined with the presence of the currently experimental Gloriana class tank destroyer, which was currently situated on the crest of a hill, five miles from the German line, about three miles behind her. It's was situated there to provide fire support when necessary; whilst artillery could do the job just as well, the Gloriana had orders to focus on the Tiger tanks they knew would be there, and that the artillery would struggle to destroy.

"Lion 1 this is Hippo," crackled the radio, with the voice of Erwin who, despite only waking up two days ago, was determined to be with the attack every step of the way.

"Hippo, this is Lion 1, go ahead." replied Erika

"Lion 1, Rommel will make sure that his troops hold their fire as long as possible, these tanks are some he has never seen before, so he'll be wary. He'll want his troops to make their fire as effective as possible, and in tank warfare that usually means waiting until the enemy is close."

"Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes, you might say," came the boisterous voice of Kay who seemed to have regained much of her enthusiasm recently.

"Exaclty," said Erwin, "Just like Bunker Hill, Rommel will want us to get close. But we have the advantage here. I estimate he'll fire when you are around 500 metres out, which if I read this correctly, should be quite soon. Good Luck Itsumi-dono."

Erika smiled, as emotionless and antagonistic as she seemed, she was glad to have people that cared about her. The past year had taught her a lot about the value of friends, and they were in no place to have internal problems.

"Lion Brigade, this is Lion 1, be prepared for enemy fire,"

"Roger that Lion 1, let's show Hitler's goons how to fight a war. We British invented the tank, and we'll stay top of the game."

Erika chuckled, the past year had taught her a lot about British culture and the British people. Many of them seemed more like Rosehip of St Gloriana than Darjeeling and the 'Elite'.

"Itsumi-dono, we've just passed 500 metres," said her gunner.

"Understood, brace yourselves."

Almost immediately, just as Erwin predicted, the German line unleashed a hail of fire.


End file.
